Grant ties NCAA home run record as UCLA rolls into Big Ten title game
The Sporting Tribune
Host · Writer
Senior slugger Megan Grant etched her name into college softball history Friday night, tying the NCAA Division I single-season home run record with her 37th homer as UCLA Bruins softball powered past Wisconsin Badgers softball 19-5 in the Big Ten tournament semifinals.
Grant’s record-tying blast came in the second inning and matched the mark set by former Arizona Wildcats softball star Laura Espinoza in 1995. Espinoza needed 72 games to hit 37 home runs that season. Grant reached the milestone in just 54 games.
The Bruins now advance to Saturday’s Big Ten championship game against Nebraska Cornhuskers softball, where Grant will have an opportunity to become the NCAA’s all-time single-season home run leader.
“I’m truly honored,” Grant told ESPN after the 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.”
The San Bruno native has been part of one of the most prolific offensive seasons in college softball history. Grant entered Friday batting .478 and ranked among the nation’s top hitters while continuing her season-long home run race with Kendall Wells, the freshman catcher from Oklahoma Sooners softball who sits at 36 home runs after Oklahoma’s early exit from the SEC tournament.
Grant said she has tried not to focus on the numbers during the chase.
“To be honest, I think us as players, we try to do the best we can no matter what,” Grant said. “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 Jordan Woolery — a gift every single day in front of my eyes.”
Grant and teammate Jordan Woolery have helped UCLA become one of the most dangerous lineups in the country. The Bruins and Sooners entered Friday tied with 173 team home runs, already shattering the previous NCAA single-season team record of 161 set by Oklahoma in 2001.
Grant has been rewriting record books throughout her UCLA career. Last season, she hit 26 home runs, setting a Big Ten single-season record. Earlier this week, she was selected fourth overall by the Portland Cascade in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League college draft, becoming the first hitter taken.
Her remarkable year has extended beyond softball. Before the season began, Grant also contributed as a reserve for UCLA Bruins women's basketball during its 2026 national championship season.
Despite standing one swing away from history, Grant said UCLA’s focus remains on winning a conference championship.
“I think it’s a really important game for us, the Big Ten championship,” she said. “Nebraska is such a great team. We’re just really honed in as a team on being able to attack aggressively together, and that’s also my main focus.”
