Megan Grant Sets NCAA D-I HR Record with 38th Homer
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Megan Grant launched her 38th home run of the season off an 0-2 pitch from Nebraska's Jordy Frahm in the third inning of the Big Ten championship game, a solo shot that gave UCLA a 2-0 lead and set the NCAA Division I single-season record.
- Grant reached 38 homers in 55 games, surpassing Arizona's Laura Espinoza, who hit 37 over 72 games in 1995 — a mark that had stood for roughly three decades.
- Despite the milestone, Nebraska rallied to beat UCLA 7-2 to win the conference title; Grant kept the record ball in her backpack and said she planned to give it to her grandmother.
- The season-long home run chase is still open: Oklahoma's Kendall Wells has 36 homers and UCLA teammate Jordan Woolery has 33, with the race potentially decided at the Women's College World Series.
- UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez called it "nice to be able to do it on a big stage" — Grant homered in all three of UCLA's Big Ten tournament games after entering the postseason one homer behind Wells, who went quiet in Oklahoma's loss to Georgia.
Why it matters: Grant broke a 30-year-old Division I record in 17 fewer games than the previous holder, Espinoza, and the home run race between her, Wells (36), and Woolery (33) could continue to escalate at the Women's College World Series — giving UCLA multiple bats in the record chase and potentially reshaping the sport's single-season leaderboard.
