Bombs away: UCLA's Jordan Woolery, Megan Grant are a power duo unlike any other
The Bruin Bombers. The Bash Brothers. The Splash Brothers.
Jordan Woolery and Megan Grant are open to any nicknames that reflect their standing as college softball's most formidable hitting duo.
'Whatever anyone wants to call us,' Woolery said, 'we don't even care.'
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Any credible nickname must recognize their staggering power. Bonus points are available for a reference to their native Bay Area. What's not negotiable is the conveying of their connection, both as the best of friends and their proximity in UCLA's batting order.
Woolery hits third, followed by Grant in the cleanup spot. It has been that way in every lineup card this season except for the three games in which Grant was either limited to pinch-hitting duties or sidelined because of a minor hamstring injury.
The payoff of pairing them together has been historic, a combination as proven as peanut butter and jelly or Simon and Garfunkel.
The junior sluggers have combined for more home runs (47) and runs batted in (161) than any other pair of hitters in the nation, vaulting the ninth-seeded Bruins (52-10) into the Columbia Super Regional to face eighth-seeded South Carolina (43-15). The best-of-three series starts at 10 a.m. PDT Friday in Columbia, S.C., the opener televised by ESPN2.
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Read more: UCLA softball defeats UC Santa Barbara to advance to NCAA Super Regionals
'The numbers that they're putting up,' UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said of what might go down as the best hitting combo in school history, 'are exciting and loud. These two are doing things that you just don't see.'
Their spots in the order always start with the same ritual — a bat tap, accompanied by Woolery saying, 'I got you.' Grant often returns the favor, especially when her teammate gets on base.
Early this season, after Arizona walked Woolery on four pitches, Grant smashed a three-run home run, providing the Wildcats extra reminders about why that was a bad idea.
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'What I did was chest-bump Jordan about 50 times when we hit home plate together,' Grant said. 'It was just the hypest moment, honestly.'
Woolery and Grant can often be found together in the dugout, on team planes or at Lamonica's NY Pizza, their go-to stress relief spot in Westwood Village. They're not roommates but might as well be; they invariably reside in one of their rooms long before the first pitch when Woolery braids Grant's hair while watching 'Catfish,' a favorite television show.
When a reporter inquired about their palpable bond, Grant cracked, 'You can feel the aura?'
Both players immediately cracked up.
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Separating the inseparable pair is a no-no. The last time it happened, amid a rare slump late last season, Inouye-Perez made the mistake of not putting them back to back in the batting order. They went a combined two for eight and made sure their coach knew about it the next day.
'It's just the vibe was off, for sure,' Grant said, 'so we had to talk to 'Coach I' about it.'
The Bruins' Jordan Woolery has 22 home runs, 82 RBIs and a .423 batting average this season.
(Kyusung Gong / Associated Press)
Said Woolery: 'Since then, we haven't left each other's side.'
Why would they?
Woolery and Grant's RBI total is the highest by any duo in school history, surpassing the 158 RBIs that Stacey Nuveman and Julie Marshall tallied on the way to helping the Bruins win the 1999 NCAA championship.
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When informed of the feat, after they had combined for 13 RBIs last weekend during the Bruins' record-setting regional romp while outscoring three opponents by a combined 31-2, Grant placed her hand over her mouth in disbelief. Catcher Alexis Ramirez, seated next to Grant and Woolery in the interview room, patted Grant on the shoulder.
'Oh my God,' Ramirez said, offering another nickname, 'Smash Brothers.'
Grant then threw an arm around Woolery in celebration, the teammates smiling widely.
'If Meg wasn't awesome,' Woolery said, 'I couldn't be awesome, so just grateful to have her by my side.'
There's symmetry in almost everything they do. Both players were finalists for USA Softball collegiate player of the year and have been first team all-conference selections in every season at UCLA.
Megan Grant (43), joining teammates in a celebratory "night night" gesture after hitting a home run Friday against UC Santa Barbara, has 25 home runs and 79 RBIs this season.
(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)
Grant's 25 homers are tied with Ohio State's Jasmyn Burns for the most in a single season by any Big Ten Conference player. If Grant hits another homer, she'll break the conference record since Ohio State has been eliminated from the NCAA tournament.
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Woolery, who has hit 22 homers, leads the team with 82 RBIs, and her .423 batting average trails only Savannah Pola's .437. Collectively, the Bruins comprise one of the most fearsome lineups in the country, having piled up a team-record 28 mercy-rule wins.
Hitting coach Lisa Fernandez won't rate Woolery or Grant over the other in terms of power.
'Oh, no,' Fernandez said with a laugh. 'I mean, they're both powerful. And I give them credit — as powerful as they are, they don't just rely on that, you know what I mean? They understand when they need to go for theirs, they understand the process.
'I think they push each other, but they do it in a way that is also embracing each other's gifts and successes, and I think that is a credit to them and the relationship that they have. We make a conscious effort to understand that one helps the other. The better Jo does, Megan has a chance to pick up RBIs and when Megan does great, Jordan, you're going to see pitches, so you work together, they make each other great.'
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Woolery and Grant have known each other since committing to UCLA when they were in the eighth grade. Even then, Fernandez said, she realized they 'may be the best one-two combo in terms of power numbers that have played this game in terms of being back to back.'
Although Woolery dabbled in basketball growing up, Grant was once so smitten with the sport that she thought it was going to be her pathway to a Division I college scholarship. She even earned the nickname 'Chef Megan' — a play on Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry's nickname — before all of the hoopla about sticking with basketball ended when her travel-team coach told her that softball was her calling.
UCLA infielders Jordan Woolery (15) and Megan Grant (43) during a win over UC Santa Barbara. The two combined for 13 RBIs as the Bruins dominated their own regional tournament.
(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)
Grant's toughness is rooted in playing baseball alongside two older brothers who spared no sympathy.
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'Being the baby didn't really mean anything to them, you know?' Grant said. 'It was always hardcore — if you can't catch, get out, that type of stuff.'
That sort of mentality comes in handy for both players while taking batting practice from Fernandez, widely regarded as the top pitcher in softball history.
'Having the greatest pitcher pitch to you after practice,' Woolery said, 'that's a dream, honestly.'
Although it would have been easy for one slugger to try to top the other, they immediately realized that pulling together would only amplify the possibilities.
'At the end of the day,' Woolery said, 'our goal is to win a national championship, so we can't do that if we're competing against each other, you know?'
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Grant likes to say that she has the best seat in the house, watching Woolery hit from the on-deck circle. Whenever one of the — insert nickname here — hits a home run, she always finds her beloved teammate in the dugout, leading to an embrace.
'It's just like such a bliss moment,' Woolery said. 'Just seeing Meg do her thing, it's so special.'
Pressed about the nickname possibilities, both players finally acknowledge they do have a favorite.
Not surprisingly, it's the same one, created by Vinny Lavalsiti, a member of the school's athletics communications staff.
Said Grant: 'Bruin Bombers.'
Said Woolery: 'Yeah, Bruin Bombers.'
Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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