Former UCLA softball standout Megan Grant wasted no time making her mark in the pros, setting a new AUSL record for the longest home run in league history during her first week with the Portland Cascade.
Grant launched a 313-foot blast during the Cascade's June 10th matchup against the Carolina Blaze. The shot marked her first professional home run — and rewrote the AUSL record books.
The accomplishment came just days after UCLA's season ended with last month's Women's College World Series loss to Texas Tech. Five days later, Grant signed her first pro contract after being selected fourth overall by the Portland Cascade, one of the softball league's 2026 expansion teams.
With her first professional home run, Megan Grant just set @theAUSLofficial record for longest homer!
— MLB (@MLB) June 11, 2026
Grant is fresh off of setting the NCAA DI record for most home runs in a single season with 42 😤 pic.twitter.com/x4vSF03Etn
Megan Grant Leads UCLA Softball's AUSL Roster Takeover
Grant is one of 12 former UCLA players competing across the second-year league's six teams this season.
The Portland Cascade roster features even deeper UCLA ties via head coach Tairia Flowers, a 2003 NCAA champion with the Bruins who graduated as a two-time All-American and three-time All-Conference selection. Flowers ranks second in UCLA history in games played.
Grant leaves UCLA as one of the program's most decorated softball players. The dual-sport athlete also competed on the 2026 NCAA champion basketball team during her college career.
On the softball field, Megan Grant set the DI single-season home run record with 42 homers in her senior year. She also finished as UCLA's all-time home run leader with 91 career blasts.
The record-breaking pro debut suggests Grant;s power translates seamlessly at the professional level.
The 2026 WCWS took the weekend by storm, as NCAA softball titans shook up the college bracket to this week’s Women’s College World Series Finals.
Alabama softball and Tennessee rolled through the competition, taking both weekend matchups to enter today’s semifinals with the winners’ advantage.
Defending champion Texas and 2025 runner-up Texas Tech managed to stave off elimination, as the Longhorns broke up a Nebraska no-hitter and the Red Raiders survived UCLA in extra innings.
College World Series Sets Semifinals Bracket
Today’s semifinals pit winners Alabama and Tennessee against losers Texas Tech and Texas, with the winning sides needing just one victory to advance while the underdogs need two.
Should the Longhorns beat the Lady Vols or the Red Raiders defeat the Crimson Tide, a second winner-take-all game immediately follows as a doubleheader.
“We’re chasing excellence, and we’re chasing a never-ending pursuit of greatness, and I [have] just been excited to be a part of that,” said Alabama slugger Alexis Pupillo.
Where to Watch Today's 2026 WCWS Semifinals
The WCWS semifinals kick off today at 12 PM ET, live on ESPN.
The 2026 softball season saw yet another record fall Saturday after UCLA senior Megan Grant launched her 38th dinger in the Bruins' 7-2 Big Ten tournament loss to Nebraska, breaking the NCAA single-season home run record.
Grant one-upped Arizona alum Laura Espinoza's 1995 high-mark with a solo shot to deep left-center field in the third inning off Nebraska's Jordy Frahm. The milestone homer came in just 55 games, 17 fewer than Espinoza needed to set the previous record.
"I'm just so grateful for the opportunity I was blessed with and just to follow the people that were before me," Grant said after making history.
More home runs could be on deck as the Bruins set off down the path toward this year's Women's College World Series.
Grant isn't alone in her historic pursuit. Oklahoma's Kendall Wells tallied 36 home runs this season, while Grant's teammate Jordan Woolery has 33. Grant and Woolery became the first teammates in NCAA softball history to each hit 30-plus homers in the same season, and plan to continue their careers in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League this summer.
The final record will likely come down to the postseason after former frontrunner Wells failed to get under one in the Sooners' 10-5 SEC tournament loss to Georgia.
Grant had tied Espinoza's 31-year-old record Friday with her 37th homer against Wisconsin in the Big Ten semifinals before claiming sole possession of the mark against Nebraska.
A dual-sport athlete, Grant recently won the 2026 NCAA basketball championship with UCLA.
Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) stocked up by adding 43 former NCAA and Olympic stars to its ranks on Monday night, with Talons utility player Maya Brady — niece of retired NFL legend Tom Brady — leading the charge as the No. 1 overall pick by the incoming Oklahoma City Spark in the league's expansion draft.
Starting the inaugural 2025 AUSL campaign on injured reserve, the former UCLA standout went on to feature in six games for the championship-winning Talons, registering one double, one home run, and five RBIs on the season.
The now-six -team league absorbed the previously independent Spark as part of an initial expansion plan, acquiring the Oklahoma City-based squad with the intention of finding permanent homes for all AUSL teams in the near future.
Also joining the AUSL next year is new franchise Cascade, which snagged Volts pitcher and former University of Oklahoma ace Sam Landry as the No. 2 overall pick on Monday.
Though the four original teams protected five players each, the Spark and Cascade raided their rosters in the expansion draft, claiming stars like infielders Sydney Romero (Talons) and Jessi Warren (Volts) as well as pitchers Alana Vawter (Blaze) and Payton Gottshall (Volts) for their debut lineups.
Immediately following the expansion draft, all six teams took part in an allocation draft, selecting athletes from either the 2025 AUSL Reserve Pool or those previously competing outside the league.
Former Oklahoma and Oklahoma State pitcher Kelly Maxwell earned the top pick in the allocation draft, with the new Cascade player joined by other recent NCAA softball legends like former Sooners Kinzie Hansen, Jayda Coleman, and Jocelyn Alo, Florida State's Kat Sandercock and Sydney Sherrill, Washington's Sis Bates, and Clemson's Valerie Cagle.
SEC firepower will fuel the 2025 Women's College World Series (WCWS), as No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Florida, No. 6 Texas, No. 7 Tennessee, and unseeded Ole Miss all advanced out of this weekend's Super Regionals to book trips to Oklahoma City.
The SEC's five teams ties the record for most WCWS-bound squads from a single conference, with the additions of former Big 12 powerhouses Oklahoma and Texas notably boosting the league's WCWS roster this year.
Big Ten newcomers No. 9 UCLA and No. 16 Oregon plus the Big 12's No. 12 Texas Tech round out the eight teams entering the double-elimination tournament later this week, all battling for one of two spots in next week's best-of-three championship series.
Despite coming into the postseason as the No. 2 seed, the Sooners are still the team to beat as they hunt their fifth straight NCAA softball title.
With their 18th program ticket to OKC, Oklahoma's consistency in advancing to the national championship's last stop is dwarfed only by UCLA: The Bruins have appeared in 34 editions of the WCWS, missing the final cut only nine times in NCAA history.
In contrast, both Ole Miss and Texas Tech will be making their WCWS debuts after upsetting top seeds last weekend.
The Rebels, who first eliminated No. 13 Arizona in Regionals, outlasted No. 4 Arkansas to book their first-ever WCWS trip on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Red Raiders are flying high behind transfer pitcher and 2024 National Player of the Year NiJaree Canady, emerging victorious in their first-ever Super Regional with two straight wins over No. 5 Florida State.
How to watch the 2025 Women's College World Series
Oklahoma City veterans and debutants alike will begin their WCWS campaigns on Thursday, when all teams will contend in the tournament's initial four games.
Kicking off the 2025 WCWS is an all-SEC afternoon session, with No. 6 Texas facing No. 3 Florida at 12 PM ET before No. 7 Tennessee takes on No. 2 Oklahoma at 2:30 PM ET.
Evening play pits the newcomers against each other as Ole Miss clashes with No. 12 Texas Tech at 7 PM ET, with a Big Ten battle between No. 16 Oregon and No. 9 UCLA closing out the night at 9:30 PM ET.
Live coverage of the afternoon games will air on ESPN, with ESPN2 broadcasting the two evening matchups.
After a first-round weekend of pitcher's duels and red-hot bats, the 2025 NCAA softball tournament's best-of-three Super Regionals field is set — and it's missing four of the 16 national seeds.
No. 10 LSU fell on Saturday after two upset losses to unseeded SE Louisiana, before Sunday saw No. 13 Arizona and No. 14 Duke follow suit while unseeded Ole Miss, Georgia, and Nebraska all punched second-round tickets.
Eventually ousting SE Louisiana in the winners' bracket to advance to their first Super Regionals in 11 years, the Huskers rode in on the back of two-time All-American pitcher Jordy Bahl, with the Oklahoma transfer throwing 12 innings and hitting four home runs across Nebraska's three Regional games.
Elsewhere, unseeded Liberty booked a program-first trip to the Supers by eliminating top-seed Texas A&M — the first time the NCAA bracket's overall No. 1 seed failed to advance from Regionals.
Should they similarly bounce No. 16 Oregon this weekend, Liberty will become just the second mid-major team to make the Women's College World Series (WCWS) since 2014, joining James Madison's 2021 Cinderella run.
Rounding out the rest of the Super Regional round's 16 teams are No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Florida, No. 4 Arkansas, No. 5 Florida State, No. 6 Texas, No. 7 Tennessee, and No. 8 South Carolina, as well as No. 9 UCLA, No. 11 Clemson, No. 12 Texas Tech, No. 15 Alabama, and the aforementioned No. 16 Ducks.
Super Regional weekend to feature blockbuster matchups
The 16 contenders will battle head-to-head for eight available WCWS berths, with the four-time defending champion Sooners now leading the field.
To advance, however, Oklahoma must first outlast Alabama, a team with which the Sooners have a long, contentious postseason history — the pair have faced off in five of the last 12 NCAA tournaments.
After Oklahoma bounced Alabama from the 2019 WCWS semifinals — the last time the pair squared off before becoming SEC rivals — the Tide enacted revenge by narrowly beating the Sooners in April's conference play, teeing up a tense weekend Super Regional series.
After narrowly missing this weekend's hosting rights as the No. 9 seed — UCLA's lowest seeding since 2016 — the Bruins proved why they are the sport's winningest program, run-ruling ever Regional game while allowing just two runs all weekend.
The 12-time champions will now travel to Gamecock territory, where No. 8 South Carolina will try to boost the Bruins and book their first WCWS ticket in 28 years.
Powerhouses still rule the diamond, but parity has never been higher in college softball, with this year's NCAA tournament already delivering whiplash results.
How to watch the 2025 NCAA softball Super Regionals
The best-of three NCAA softball Super Regionals kick off on Thursday and run through the weekend, with possible winner-take-all clashes finalizing the WCWS slate on Sunday.
First games are as follows:
- No. 12 Texas Tech at No. 5 Florida State, 7 PM ET on Thursday (ESPN2)
- No. 11 Clemson at No. 6 Texas, 9 PM ET on Thursday (ESPN2)
- Georgia at No. 3 Florida, 11 AM ET on Friday (ESPN2)
- No. 9 UCLA at No. 8 South Carolina, 1 PM ET on Friday (ESPN2)
- No. 15 Alabama at No. 2 Oklahoma, 5 PM ET on Friday (ESPN2)
- Nebraska at No. 7 Tennessee, 7 PM ET on Friday (ESPN2)
- Ole Miss at No. 4 Arkansas, 8 PM ET on Friday (ESPNU)
- Liberty at No. 16 Oregon, 10 PM ET on Friday (ESPNU)
For the first time in program history, Texas A&M is the No. 1 seed in the NCAA softball tournament, with the Aggies staving off four-time reigning champion Oklahoma for the honor in Sunday's 2025 bracket drop.
After adverse weather canceled their conference title game on Saturday, the Aggies and No. 2-seed Sooners became 2025 SEC tournament co-champions, leaving the NCAA selection committee to lean heavily on each team's strength of schedule in making their top-seed decision.
"What set apart Texas A&M is they have 19 Top 25 wins, which is number one in the country," said NCAA softball committee chair Kurt McGuffin on Sunday's ESPN2 broadcast, noting the Aggies' tough nonconference schedule.
Taking on a lighter nonconference slate than usual due to massive roster turnover following the 2023/24 season, Oklahoma relied heavily on their record in a stacked SEC, finishing one half-game ahead of A&M in regular-season play.
While the Sooners look to extend their championship streak, the Aggies will be hunting their third national title and first since 1987.
Standing in their way in the 64-team bracket are a record number of familiar foes, as the SEC boasts 14 teams in the 2025 NCAA competition — the most from any single conference in tournament history.
Even more, nine of the bracket's 16 seeded teams hail from the SEC, and a full seven of the Top 8.
Conference champs, at-large teams score NCAA bracket spots
SEC squads aren't the only teams looking to topple Texas A&M and Oklahoma, however, as conference champions and other elite squads learned their tournament fates on Selection Sunday.
No. 5 Florida State is the highest seeded non-SEC team, despite falling 2-1 to No. 11-seed Clemson in Saturday's ACC title game. Along with No. 14-seed Duke, the ACC will see nine teams in the 2025 tournament.
Behind 2024 National Player of the Year NiJaree Canady — the nation's top pitcher — Texas Tech leads a five-team contingent from the Big 12 after securing both their conference tournament trophy and the national No. 12-seed this weekend.
In the weekend's most upset-filled conference tournament, unseeded Michigan outlasted both No. 9-seed UCLA and No. 16-seed Oregon to score a second straight Big Ten tournament title on Saturday, becoming one of eight teams repping the conference in Sunday's bracket.
Notably, the Bruins — the winningest program in NCAA softball history with 12 titles — have not entered the tournament lower than a No. 6 seed since 2016.
How to watch the 2025 NCAA softball tournament
The road to the 2025 Women's College World Series begins with Regionals, in which each of the 16 seeded teams will host a four-team double-elimination mini-tournament this weekend.
With a minimum of 96 games — and a possibility of 112 — Regional play begins at 12 PM ET on Friday, with the 64-team field narrowing to 16 by Sunday night.
All games will air live across ESPN's networks.