LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The UC Santa Barbara Softball team (34-24) excitedly travels south for the NCAA Tournament's Los Angeles Regional, hosted this Friday through Sunday at UCLA's Easton Stadium. A double-elimination format, the Gauchos' first round matchup comes against the regional's No. 1 seed and ninth-overall Bruins (49-10) on Friday afternoon.

HOW THE GAUCHOS GOT HERE
Santa Barbara earned an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament by winning last weekend's inaugural Big West Championship. After losing their opening game in the double-elimination tournament, the Gauchos had the tall task of needing to win six elimination games in four days. They did just that, knocking out all five of the other teams in the Championship on the way to their first conference championship in program history. Malaya Johnson—who pitched 35.1 innings across six games, earning five wins—was named Big West Championship MVP.
 
This is the first time that UC Santa Barbara has reached the NCAA Tournament since 2007, when they did so as an at-large team. The Gauchos beat UCLA during the regular season of that year, with the program's most recent win over the Bruins coming in 2009.

SCOUTING THE BRUINS
UCLA earned the No. 9 overall seed with an at-large berth after falling to Michigan in the championship game of their first Big Ten Tournament. The Bruins' program success speaks for itself, as this is the 11th consecutive season they are hosting a regional. They went 6-0 against Big West schools this year with a total run differential of 48-8.
 
The Bruins lineup is filled with productive hitters. As a team, UCLA has hit .342 this season with a 1.033 OPS. Senior Savannah Pola led the team with a .439 batting average and 66 runs scored. Junior Jordan Woolery hit for average (.416) and power (20 home runs), while Megan Grant had a 1.499 OPS and finished tied for the conference lead with 23 homers. All three made the All-Big Ten First Team.
 
In the circle, UCLA had three pitchers pitch over 100 innings with a 2.66 or lower ERA. As a staff, they are top-five in the country in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.34) and WHIP (1.07). Taylor Tinsley was an All-Big Ten First Team selection, while Addisen Fisher was named to the NFCA National Freshman of the Year Top 10 list. Left-handed Kaitlyn Terry rounds out the group with 17 wins, the most of the three.

SCOUTING THE SUN DEVILS
An at-large from the ultra-competitive Big 12, Arizona State (35-19) checks in as the regional's No. 2 seed. The Sun Devils fell in the Big 12 Championship semifinals to Texas Tech after six wins against nationally-ranked opponents this season. They open the regional against San Diego State following the Gauchos-Bruins game.
 
The Sun Devils had three hitters selected to the All-Big 12 Second Team. Outfielder Tanya Windle led the team in batting average (.368) and her .949 OPS was just behind fellow Second Team selection Ashleigh Mejia (.956) for the team lead. Mejia, a freshman, also hit 13 homers to lead the team. Tiare Ho-Ching, another freshman Second Teamer, hit .344 with a team-leading 45 runs.
 
Pitcher Kenzie Brown has been Arizona State's best player, though. The unanimous First Team selection currently holds a miniscule 1.29 ERA with a 0.99 WHIP and a 19-6 record. Brown's stuff is electric, evidenced by her 265 strikeouts which amount to 11.8 per seven innings—good for second in the country.
 
SCOUTING THE AZTECS
San Diego State (37-17), thus, is the regional's No. 3 seed. Similar to the Gauchos, the Aztecs lost their first game of the double-elimination Mountain West Tournament before winning four in a row to claim the conference's automatic berth. With the win, they lifted their third consecutive Mountain West championship.
 
Senior Bella Espinoza was the Aztecs' lone hitter to make the All-Mountain West First Team. The slap-hitting left fielder hit .350 on the year with a team-leading 24 stolen bases and 41 runs scored. Freshman shortstop Quinn Waiki can flash the leather—she was named Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year.
 
Earlier this season, the Gauchos and Aztecs played each other at the Mary Nutter Classic. Dee Dee Hernandez pitched a two-hitter to shut out the Gauchos in a 4-0 victory. Cece Cellura, though, has been the team's most-used pitcher. With a 2.10 ERA and 1.06 WHIP, the sophomore right-hander made the all-conference First Team.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
First pitch between the Gauchos and Bruins is set for 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Depending on the result, the Gauchos will play either Arizona State or San Diego State sometime on Saturday—the winners' bracket game is scheduled for 2 p.m. with the elimination bracket game at 4:30 p.m.
 
All-session and single-day tickets are now on sale via the Regional Central page. Fans not making the trip to Westwood can watch the Gauchos' first game on ESPN+, with Saturday and Sunday broadcasts on the ESPN network—to be determined between ESPN+ or ESPN2. Live stats will also be available on ncaa.com.