UCLA senior Megan Grant set the NCAA Division I softball home run record on Saturday with her 38th long ball of the 2026 season.

Grant was also a member of UCLA’s 2026 NCAA basketball championship team.

In the third inning of Saturday’s game against Nebraska, Grant hit a blast to deep left-center field to pass the previous record of 37, set in 1995 by Arizona’s Laura Espinoza. Grant set the record in 55 games, 17 fewer than Espinoza.

“Records are made to be broken,” Mike Candrea, who coached Espinoza at Arizona, told The Athletic. “It’s a pretty phenomenal record to be able to break, so tip my hat off.”

Nebraska defeated UCLA on Saturday, 7-2, to claim the Big Ten title.

On Friday against Wisconsin, in the semifinals of the Big Ten conference tournament, the Bruins reached 181 homers on the season, eclipsing the previous record of 161 that had stood since 2021.

Grant boosted that number to 182 with her record shot on Saturday.

“When I first came into college, I wanted to put myself in the books as one of the best, and I didn’t really know how to at the time, but throughout my career, just more and more has gone on, and to be able to do that, it’s just, it’s surreal,” Grant told reporters. “I am just so grateful for the opportunity I was blessed with, and just to follow the people that were before me. It’s just honor.”

Grant tied UCLA’s single-season record holder, Stacey Nuveman, with her 31st homer during a doubleheader against Cal on April 18 and surpassed her on April 24 against Washington.

Grant and Nuveman are the only Bruins to hit at least 80 career homers. Nuveman, whose career ended in 2002, is the program’s all-time leader with 90. Grant has 85.

Grant joins senior teammate Jordan Woolery (33 homers) as the first teammates in NCAA softball history to each hit 30-plus home runs in the same season.

The NCAA Division I Selection Show is scheduled for Sunday afternoon, when UCLA (47-8) will find out its postseason seeding. The Bruins are seeking their first Women’s College World Series title since 2019 and their 13th in NCAA history.

Grant, Woolery and Taylor Tinsley all intend to continue their softball careers in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League this summer.

–Field Level Media

The Anaheim Ducks were taught big lessons last outing.

Now the Ducks must show how quickly they can put them to good use when they host the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday for Game 4 of their Western Conference semifinal series.

The Golden Knights claimed a thorough 6-2 victory on Friday to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. The game was an example of a veteran squad showing its savvy and elevating its play against a young squad.

“We’re still learning, still got things like that we’ve got to be better at doing because we know they’re going to respond,” Ducks defenseman Jackson LaCombe said. “They’re an experienced team. … Win or lose, we have to play our best game the next game.”

Anaheim controlled the tempo of the first two games with its team speed. On Friday, though, the Golden Knights opened the scoring just over a minute into the clash, doubled the lead midway through the opening frame with a short-handed marker and never relinquished control.

“It wasn’t a great start,” Anaheim forward Alex Killorn said. “They score in the first five minutes and then they get a PK goal. … It’s tough to win a game when you put yourself in spots like that.”

Another issue for the Ducks is their flickering power play. After a 50 percent success rate against Edmonton (8-for-16) in the opening round, the Ducks have been blanked on their 11 chances against Vegas.

That is just part of finding their form.

“They played well, but I don’t think we brought our best,” Killorn said. “They’re a great team, we just have to have a little bit of a better start and effort throughout the game.”

Coach Joel Quenneville said on Saturday that goalie Lukas Dostal will open in net. Dostal, who has started every game this postseason, was pulled after the first period in Game 3.

The Golden Knights definitely took their game to another level, but they’re well aware how easily momentum could be regained by the Ducks.

The onus will be on Vegas not to be complacent.

“Not all problems are solved because you win a game,” said Golden Knights coach John Tortorella. “You’ve got to keep on trying to get better. I just thought we entered the series (Friday) playing our game a little bit more than we have, but we’re going to have to keep improving.”

Tortorella had no update on Saturday regarding the status of captain Mark Stone, who left Friday’s game near the end of the first period.

“I’m not going to give you any updates on injuries, so you might as well stop asking that question,” Tortorella said.

Fortunately for Vegas, Mitch Marner delivered his first career playoff hat trick which put him atop the league’s postseason scoring list with 13 points (six goals, seven assists).

“I try to always be an energizer guy, a guy that goes out there and brings a lot of passion and energy to games,” Marner said. “Obviously, I always want the puck on my tape. I want to try to make the plays.”

With or without Stone, the Golden Knights could still use more contributors. For example, Tomas Hertl has not scored a goal in 29 games. He last lit the lamp on March 4 for his 24th of the year.

“There’s some areas that we still need to be more consistent at,” Tortorella said. “There’s a few players we’re hoping get going also. … We know it’s Game 4, and as the series ratchets up into these later games, the momentum swings, and it’s more desperate hockey. So, we’re just going to get ready to play and try to play the right way.”

–Field Level Media

Rookie Jovana Nogic made an immediate splash in her WNBA debut, scoring all 19 of her points in the first half of the Phoenix Mercury’s 99-66 rout of the host Las Vegas Aces on Saturday.

The 28-year-old Serbia native connected on her first four 3-point attempts to lead Phoenix (1-0) to a dominant start in a rematch of last season’s WNBA finals.

All five starters for Phoenix scored in double figures, led by Alyssa Thomas’ game-high 20 points. Kahleah Copper and DeWanna Bonner scored 13 points apiece while Natasha Mack grabbed 15 rebounds to go with her 10 points.

Las Vegas (0-1) sputtered offensively with little scoring support behind reigning Most Valuable Player A’ja Wilson and veteran guard Jackie Young.

The duo combined for 26 of the Aces’ 35 first-half points. Wilson finished with 19 points while Young added 12. No other Las Vegas scorer reached double figures until NaLyssa Smith hit 11 and Chennedy Carter netted 10 in garbage time.

The Mercury jumped to a 21-point lead by intermission, spoiling Saturday’s celebration of the Aces’ 2025 championship. The first-half blitz was punctuated by Nogic’s fourth 3-pointer just before halftime — and the deficit only swelled from there.

Nogic knocked down a pair of her triples as part of a pivotal 14-2 run spanning the first 4:08 of the second quarter. In one sequence, she buried a 3-pointer on one end, intercepted a pass on the other and fed Bonner for the assist in transition.

The crescendo pushed the Mercury lead to 41-23 with 5:52 left in the first half. It never dropped below 15 the rest of the way.

Thomas and Bonner ignited a 19-2 run to close out the third quarter. The deluge snuffed any hope of a Las Vegas rally.

Thomas dished nine assists and grabbed six rebounds to complement her scoring high. Kianna Williams came off the bench to knock down three 3-pointers on the way to 11 points.

Williams was also one of four Mercury with multiple steals, joining Mack and Nogic with two apiece. Thomas swiped three as Phoenix forced Las Vegas into 17 turnovers that turned into 19 points.

–Field Level Media