UCLA and head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez have agreed to a contract extension, according to documents reviewed by JWOS as part of a Freedom of Information Act request.
Inouye-Perez led the Bruins to the Women’s College World Series championship during the 2019 season, the second such title of her tenure as the program’s head coach. The contract extension will keep Inouye-Perez in Los Angeles through the 2023 season.
During the 2019 championship run, the Bruins posted a 56-6 overall record, the second-highest win total of Inouye-Perez’s 13-year tenure as head coach. The program posted a 20-4 mark in PAC-12 play, tying the best conference record under Inouye-Perez. The Bruins lost just once during the entirety of the postseason, and that in the first game of their hosted regional final.
Redshirt junior Rachel Garcia earned the National Player of the Year award for the second straight year, while fellow junior Bubba Nickles joined Garcia in being named all-Americans after the season. The Bruins batted .339 as a club during the championship season, while the team’s pitching staff – helmed by Garcia – recorded a 1.43 cumulative ERA on the year.
The National Championship-clinching victory also served as the 600th win of Inouye-Perez’s head coaching career. She owns a 600-172-1 overall record during her tenure leading the Bruins. A UCLA “lifer”, Inouye-Perez was a catcher at UCLA from 1989-93, reaching three Women’s College World Series’ with the Bruins. She spent twelve years as an assistant coach on the program’s staff before taking the helm prior to the 2007 season.
