NCAA LOS ANGELES REGIONAL PREVIEW
Three California teams in field with Gophers combined 107-23
Gophers: The Gophers (29-11), the Big Ten runner-up, are making their eighth NCAA appearance in the past nine seasons (there was no tournament in 2020). The Gophers led the Big Ten in home runs with 47. Natalie DenHartog led the conference with 13 home runs. MaKenna Partain leads the team with a .331 batting average. The Gophers pitching staff had the second-best ERA (2.07) in the Big Ten. Amber Fiser is 15-8 with a 2.19 ERA and Autumn Pease is 11-2 with a 1.63 ERA. All four of those Gophers were named to the NFCA Great Lakes Region second team.
Fresno State: The Bulldogs (36-10), the only Mountain West Conference team to win a national title (1998), won the conference title this season with a 20-4 record. The Bulldogs are led by Hailey Dolcini and Keahilele Mattson, the MWC Pitcher and Player of the Year, respectively. Dolcini, a senior, is 21-4 with a 1.01 ERA (10th best in the nation). Dolcini is tied for the national lead with 13 shutouts and has 241 strikeouts in 166 innings. Mattson, a freshman, is hitting .352 with 11 home runs and 37 RBI.
Long Beach State: Long Beach State (30-9) won the Big West Conference title with a 22-2 record.After a 4-4 start, Long Beach State is 26-5 since March 21. Senior Kellie White, the Big West Pitcher of the Year, is 16-6 with a 1.94 ERA, and freshman Shannon Haddad is 8-0 with a 2.05 ERA. The Beach has three players hitting over .400 — Alyssa Gonzalez (. 418), Naomi Hernandez (. 417) and Suzy Brookshire (. 400)— and a team batting average of .328.
UCLA: The Bruins, the Pac-12 champions, are the No. 2 overall seed in the 64-team field. The Bruins (41-4), who won 15 of their final 16 regular-season games, are led by senior Rachel Garcia, one of three finalists for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year. Garcia, who won the award in 2018 and 2019, is 14-0 with a 0.60 ERA (best in the nation). She has struck 124 in 94 innings. Garcia also leads the Bruins with a .766 slugging percentage. She is hitting .362 with 11 home runs and 30 RBI.
JOEL RIPPEL
