Forty home runs. Forty times this season, Megan Grant connected with a pitch and watched the ball travel over the fence. It had never been done before in the history of college softball — not at this level, not in a single season. The record stood at 39. Grant obliterated it.
On Thursday night at Devon Park, she carries that number into the Women’s College World Series for what could be the final time. No. 8 seed UCLA (52-8) opens against No. 1 overall seed Alabama (54-7) at 7:00 PM ET on ESPN2. The matchup is the tournament’s premier individual narrative: the greatest offensive season in the sport’s history against a defensive program built to stop exactly that kind of production.
A Record That Redefined the Ceiling
Grant reached 40 home runs in 55 games — 17 fewer games than Espinoza’s pace when the previous record stood. That efficiency matters. In a sport where pitchers at the Division I level are skilled and diverse, maintaining an elite home run pace across an entire season requires an ability to make consistent, hard contact against everything opponents throw. Grant did that against SEC pitching, Big 12 pitching, and tournament-caliber arms throughout the spring.
She also produced complementary numbers that contextualize the power. An OPS of 1.983 and 74 walks show that opponents were not always willing to challenge her directly. When they did challenge her, the ball went over the fence. When they tried to pitch around her, she drew the walk and let the lineup do the rest.
The result is a UCLA offense that punishes every strategy. Grant (40 HRs) and Jordan Woolery (34 HRs) give the Bruins the most dangerous power combination in the tournament field — a pairing that has produced damage in every game of the season.
The Opposition: Alabama’s 22-Shutout Staff
If any pitching staff was designed to resist Grant’s power, it is Alabama’s. The Crimson Tide threw 22 shutouts in 2026 — 22 games in which an opposing team did not score a single run. With a 1.60 team ERA (second nationally), Alabama enters the WCWS as the most effective defensive pitching unit in the country.
Head coach Patrick Murphy’s staff led by Jocelyn Briski and Vic Moten has handled elite offenses throughout a 54-7 season that included 19-5 play in the SEC — the toughest conference environment in college softball. The Crimson Tide blanked LSU twice in the super regional and have not allowed a run in multiple high-leverage situations throughout the year.
This is the challenge Grant faces. Not an ordinary pitching staff. Not a team that can be rattled easily. Alabama has spent the entire season preparing for exactly this kind of test.
34 Appearances Deep
Beyond Grant’s individual story, Thursday’s game carries the weight of institutional history. UCLA is making its 34th Women’s College World Series appearance — an NCAA record for any program. Alabama is making its 16th. This is the fifth all-time WCWS meeting between the two programs, a series that reflects decades of elite softball on both coasts.
Neither program needs the other for credibility. Both have earned their place at Devon Park many times over. But one of them will leave Thursday’s game in the winners’ bracket and the other will need to fight through the losers’ side.
Grant came to Devon Park to win a national championship. So did Alabama. The 7 PM ET game will tell us which story advances.
What’s Next
UCLA vs. Alabama begins Thursday, May 28 at 7:00 PM ET on ESPN2 at Devon Park in Oklahoma City. The 2026 WCWS uses a double-elimination format, with the best-of-three championship finals scheduled to conclude by June 5. For Megan Grant and UCLA, Thursday represents the beginning of what they hope is a run to the national title — the one achievement that would sit alongside the home run record as the signature of her career.
