UCLA Star Megan Grant Becomes NCAA Home Run Record Holder
College softball has a new home run queen after UCLA's Megan Grant launched No. 38 into the record books on Saturday in the Big Ten Tournament championship game.
Grant sent a rise ball off Nebraska's Jordy Frahm out to right center in the third inning.
The senior broke the NCAA Division I softball single-season record set by former Arizona player Laura Espinoza in 1995.
Grant only need 55 games to accomplish the feat while it took Espinoza 72.
Despite the fireworks from Grant, the Cornhuskers pulled away from the Bruins and were crowned Big Ten Tournament champions. Grant finished the day 1-for-3.
Only four Bruins reached base safely via a hit. Jordan Woolery had two of the team's five hits and Aleena Garcia was the only other Bruin to cross home plate.
Grant tied the record against Wisconsin on Friday night. Across UCLA's three games in the Big Ten Tournament, the utility player was 3-for-7, and all three of her hits were solo home runs. She walked four times, scored four runs, and drove in three.
"I'm truly honored," Grant said after Friday's game. "The record has been standing for so long, so I am just blessed to be able to say I can etch my name into history just a little."
Division I has one other slugger chasing down the new record holder. Oklahoma's Kendall Wells has 36 homers and she's just a freshman.
Oklahoma was eliminated from the SEC Tournament in the quarterfinals but both women have a chance to add to their single-season totals in the NCAA Tournament.
"To be honest, I think us as players, we try to do the best we can no matter what," Grant added. "Kendall Wells is doing an absolute amazing job, just being able to watch her from the outside, you just know what pure hitters look like, and obviously being able to watch [teammate] Jordan Woolery -- a gift every single day in front of my eyes.
"So, that's amazing, but I think when we focus in on the game, we don't really look at what we're doing on the outside in terms of home runs and counting the numbers. We just focus on what's going on within our team and how we win the ball game."
Grant and the Bruins will find out where they will start their NCAA Tournament journey on Sunday when the Selection Show airs on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. ET.
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Maren Angus-Coombs was born in Los Angeles and raised in Nashville, Tenn. She is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and has been a sports writer since 2008. She has been covering college softball since 2016 for various outlets including Softball America, ESPNW and Hurrdat Sports. She is currently the managing editor of Softball On SI and also serves as an analyst for Nebraska softball games on Nebraska Public Media and B1G+.