Kelly Inouye-Perez, head coach of the UCLA Bruins women’s softball team, achieved her 888th career win with a victory over No. 4 Florida at Anderson Family Field in Fullerton, California. This milestone makes her the winningest head coach in UCLA softball history.
Inouye-Perez now holds a record of 888-225-1 (.797), surpassing former coach and National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Famer Sue Enquist, who had an overall mark of 887-175-1 (.835). Sharron Backus, the program’s first head coach, retired with a record of 854-173-3 (.831). Together, these three coaches have accounted for all of UCLA’s 2,226 wins and its 13 national championships—the most in NCAA history.
Over her two decades as head coach, Inouye-Perez has led UCLA to two NCAA Championships (2010 and 2019), appeared in the Women’s College World Series eleven times, and secured five Pac-10/12 Conference regular season titles. She is also noted as the only person to win an NCAA Division I Softball Championship both as a player and as a coach. Her association with UCLA spans 38 consecutive seasons: first as a player from 1989 to 1993, then assistant coach from 1994 to 2006, and finally as head coach since 2007.
Lisa Fernandez has been part of Inouye-Perez’s coaching staff throughout her tenure as head coach. Both were teammates at UCLA and have contributed to seven out of twelve NCAA Championships for the Bruins either as players or coaches.
As student-athletes, Kelly Inouye was catcher for Lisa Fernandez during the complete-game shutout against Arizona that clinched the NCAA title in 1992. After graduation, both served on Enquist’s staff when UCLA won national championships in 1999, 2003, and 2004. Since taking over as head coach in 2007, Inouye-Perez has worked with Fernandez to secure further titles for the program.
During Inouye-Perez’s time leading the team, several players have received major honors. Rachel Garcia was named Honda Sport Award winner three times (2021, 2019, and 2018) and became softball’s first two-time Honda Cup recipient (2021 and 2019), which recognizes the top female athlete across all collegiate sports. Garcia also won USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year twice and NFCA National Player of the Year once.
Under Inouye-Perez’s leadership, twenty-eight players have earned fifty total NFCA All-American honors; fourteen athletes received First Team recognition twenty-four times. The team has produced at least one NFCA All-America award winner every season she has been head coach.
Four student-athletes under her guidance have claimed eight Pac-10/12 Player of the Year awards. Rachel Garcia is among just five conference players ever to win this honor three times.
Additionally, four Bruins—Ally Carda, Rachel Garcia, Bubba Nickles and Delaney Spaulding—represented Team USA at the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2020 where they earned silver medals.
Inouye-Perez’s coaching staff was named NFCA West Region Coaching Staff of the Year for an eighth time in 2025 after another Women’s College World Series appearance. The program also received national recognition twice under her direction—in both championship years—and she was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year four times by 2024.
In recognition of her contributions to UCLA athletics both on and off the field, Inouye-Perez was inducted into the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame in 2022.
