Former and current UCLA softball players take home USA Softball International Cup

Three Bruins are donning red, white and blue this summer for USA Softball.

The trio of UCLA softball players traveled to Columbus, Georgia, for the USA Softball International Cup from July 1 through Sunday. The tournament is one in a series of competitions that the Bruins will participate in this summer with USA Softball.

Rising redshirt senior Rachel Garcia was selected to the USA Softball Women’s National Team roster for the second year in a row, while both rising sophomores pitcher Megan Faraimo and utility Kelli Godin were selected to play with the USA Softball U19 Women’s National Team for the first time.

The WNT went 9-1 in the International Cup, advancing to the championship game Sunday in which the USA won the gold medal 2-1 versus Japan.

Garcia played in seven games for the WNT, recording 6 2/3 innings pitched over four appearances. Her record includes a four inning start versus Mexico, in which she gave up just one hit and struck out eight batters.

Garcia finished the tournament without allowing an earned run. Over the duration of the Cup, she allowed just one hit while tallying 11 strikeouts, and at the plate, Garcia finished with a .353 batting average in 17 at-bats.

The U19 WNT finished the International Cup with a 7-3 record, after winning the bronze medal game versus Scrap Yard Fast Pitch, an independent women’s professional team, on Sunday by a score of 8-0 in five innings. Faraimo started the game for the U.S. and picked up the win, pitching three innings and giving up just two hits.

Faraimo pitched in a total of four games for the U19 WNT, including a start versus the Philippines, in which she gave up zero runs and struck out nine in five innings to take the win. The only runs Faraimo allowed all tournament were in a 10-inning game versus Garcia and the USA WNT, in which Faraimo pitched 9 1/3 innings and gave up two earned runs to take the loss.

Godin played in all 10 of the U19 WNT’s games, often batting in the ninth spot as she did during the season with UCLA. She finished the tournament with a .474 batting average in 19 at-bats, scoring nine runs total.

In addition to the three current UCLA players competing with Team USA, there are two former Bruins who are competing with the Women’s National Team this summer. Ally Carda and Delaney Spaulding – who graduated in 2015 and 2017, respectively – both saw action in the Cup. Carda pitched in five games, including three scoreless innings during the championship game, while Spaulding hit .308 in the tournament, including a three-hit game against Japan on Sunday.

The WNT and U19 WNT will continue play in exhibition games over the coming weeks before the Pan American Games kick off in Peru starting in August.