SAN FRANCISCO — In a vote of the the league's nine softball head coaches, UCLA's Maya Brady, the Pac-12 Batting Champion, was voted Pac-12 Player of the Year; fellow Bruin Megan Faraimo earned Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year honors for the second consecutive season; Arizona's Allie Skaggs was selected Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year; UCLA's Jordan Woolery was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year; and Bruin head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez claimed Pac-12 Coach of the Year accolades. 

In addition to the major awards, the Conference's All-Pac-12, All-Defensive and All-Freshman teams were named in advance of the inaugural Pac-12 Softball Tournament, which begins Wednesday, May 10 at Arizona's Hillenbrand Stadium in Tucson, Ariz.

In the midst of a singularly impressive redshirt junior campaign, Brady finished the regular season hitting .456 with 16 home runs and 56 RBIs, the only player in the country with those numbers. The first Pac-12 Batting Champion from UCLA since 2019 (Kelli Godin), Brady is also in the hunt for the league's Triple Crown. In addition to her league-leading average, she is second in both home runs and RBIs, three shy of the leader in both categories. Brady also paces the Conference in hits (72), total bases (138), extra-base hits (31), on base percentage (.519) and slugging percentage (.873), is in the top 10 nationally in batting average (seventh), hits (ninth) and total bases (fourth), and 11th in both RBIs and slugging. Also one of 10 finalists for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, the two-time All-Pac-12 first team selection (2023, 2021) is the ninth from UCLA to win Pac-12 Player of the Year accolades, joining Rachel Garcia (2018, 2019, 2021), Ally Carda (2014, 2015), Megan Langenfeld (2010), Andrea Duran (2006), Natasha Watley (2003), Stacey Nuveman (1999, 2001, 2022), Lisa Fernandez (1991, 1992, 1993) and Lisa Longaker (1987, 1988, 1990).

The NCAA leader in wins and now back-to-back Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year, Faraimo has picked up a win in each of her last 15 appearances in the circle on her way to a 28-2 record, 1.11 ERA and 215 strikeouts. Earlier this season, she set a career-long scoreless inning streak of 35.2 innings and boasts a miniscule WHIP of 0.77. Faraimo is one of four pitchers in UCLA history with 100 career wins and is 17 strikeouts away from becoming the third in UCLA history to record 1,000 career strikeouts. Now a four-time All-Pac-12 first-team honoree, the redshirt senior is also one of 10 finalists for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year. Faraimo is the sixth in Conference history to win consecutive Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year awards and first since Oregon's Cheridan Hawkins won a record three straight in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Other back-to-back winners are California Jolene Henderson (2011, 2012), Washington's Danielle Lawrie (2009, 2010), Arizona State's Katie Burkhart (2007, 2008) and Arizona's Jennie Finch (2001, 2002).

Skaggs has been perfect in the field for the Wildcats. The junior has not committed an error in 162 chances this season with 88 putouts, 74 assists and 10 double plays turned in the middle of the diamond. She is just the fourth from Arizona to be named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, joining Hallie Wilson (2015), Kellie Fox (2014) and her head coach, Caitlin Lowe (2007). Skaggs has also been a stalwart offensively and is batting .324 with 13 home runs and 59 RBIs. Her RBI total leads the league and ranks sixth nationally.

Third in the Conference in batting average (.409), Woolery is fifth in the country among freshmen in that category and also has 10 home runs and 45 RBIs during her debut season. She is one of three freshmen nationally batting over .400 with 10+ home runs and 40+ RBIs along with Indiana's Taryn Kern (.438, 22 HR, 67 RBIs) and Northern Iowa's Alexis Pupillo (.416, 15 HR, 46 RBI). Woolery was even better in Conference, batting .427 with a league-high tying 32 hits in 24 Pac-12 games. A Top 25 Finalist for TUCCI/NFCA Freshman of the Year, she is UCLA's ninth Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and first since Megan Faraimo in 2019.

The Pac-12 Coach of the Year for the third time (2019, 2009), Inouye-Perez led the No. 2 Bruins to a 21-3 league record in 2023 to capture their 12th Conference regular-season title and No. 1 seed in the inaugural Pac-12 Softball Tournament. UCLA's 21 Pac-12 wins were the most in the league since Oregon in 2018 (21-3) and the Bruins' best since they went 22-6 in 1999. UCLA completed its Pac-12 slate five games clear of second-place Washington, the largest margin since Arizona (27-1) won it by eight games over Washington (19-9) in 1998. Following a loss at Oregon on March 24, UCLA has reeled off 23 consecutive wins, including 17 in Conference. The Bruins' 17-game league winning streak is tied for the second-longest active streak in the country (Oklahoma - 18; South Dakota State - 17), and was UCLA's longest in a single season since 2002. UCLA's overall 23-game winning streak is second in the country behind Oklahoma (41). Inouye-Perez is the sixth in Pac-12 history to be voted the Conference's Coach of the Year at least three times, joining Arizona's Mike Candrea (11), UCLA's Sharron Backus (four), UCLA's Sue Enquist (three), Oregon's Mike White (three) and Oregon and Washington's Teresa Wilson (three).

2023 PAC-12 SOFTBALL ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS
FIRST TEAM

SECOND TEAM

THIRD TEAM

ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM

ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM