UCLA softball star Rachel Garcia added another prestigious award to her resume Monday, winning the Honda Cup, which honors the top female collegiate athlete across all sports.
The redshirt junior pitcher carried UCLA to its first NCAA championship since 2010 this season, gathering individual honors like Pac-12 Player and Pitcher of the Year, USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year and Women’s College World Series Most Outstanding Player. Garcia was the first player in conference history to win player and pitcher of the year awards in the same season and the fourth player to win back-to-back national player of the year awards
The Palmdale native went 29-1 in the circle this season with a 1.14 ERA and 286 strikeouts, and was one of the most dangerous hitters in UCLA’s explosive lineup as she hit .343 with 59 hits, 11 home runs and 57 RBIs. She saved her best for the postseason, pitching 65 2/3 of UCLA’s 75 postseason innings, including all but two of UCLA’s WCWS innings. After throwing 10 shutout innings with 16 strikeouts and 179 pitches against Washington on June 2 in the WCWS semifinal, Garcia also hit a walk-off three-run homer to send the Bruins to their first championship series since 2010.
Garcia, who is also nominated for the ESPY for the Best College Athlete this summer, is the fifth UCLA athlete to win the Honda Cup, joining UCLA Hall of Famers Ann Meyers-Drysdale, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Lisa Fernandez and Natasha Watley.
Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5The winner of the 2019 @CWSA_HondaCup is Rachel Garcia!!!!! pic.twitter.com/MokosGw3QH
— UCLA Softball (@UCLASoftball) June 25, 2019
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