Last edited Feb. 22 at 9:38 p.m.

There has been a historic changing of the guard in the softball world.

It didn’t come with a fancy ceremony, but considering its significance, it might as well have.

For the first time in two years, UCLA softball (12-0) was awarded the No. 1 spot in the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll following a five-win sweep at the TaxAct Clearwater Invitational and then-unranked Baylor’s monumental 4-3 upset of then-No. 1 Oklahoma last weekend.

The Sooners’ stranglehold on the rankings’ top spot had lasted 31 consecutive weeks. In the two seasons spanning that stretch, they posted a ridiculous 115-7 record en route to back-to-back national championships, the latter of which came at crushing expense for the Bruins.

But now, Oklahoma’s grip is not so suffocating, and UCLA can finally take a deep breath.

It’s a triumphant moment for college softball’s all-time big brother that’s played younger sibling as of late. And with all the rich history that defines Bruin softball, the team’s return to the top has been largely untraditional.

The blue and gold opened its 2023 campaign with a seven-game homestand of exclusively unranked opponents in which it outscored its visitors 62-5. The pitching staff, consisting of redshirt senior Megan Faraimo, sixth-year Brooke Yanez, graduate student Lauren Shaw and freshman Taylor Tinsley, dominated in the circle, tossing pairs of complete-game shutouts and no-hitters.

In that six-day span, the veteran-led group surrendered just 14 hits, five walks and three hit batters.

It was a display of pitching prowess unsurprising for a program that has historically ridden shutdown performances in the circle to title after title. After all, names like Debbie Doom, Lisa Fernandez and Rachel Garcia authored the softball pitching bible during their respective stints in Westwood.

But the brilliant shine of UCLA’s 2023 pitching staff during its home-opening stretch lost some luster in Clearwater, Florida.

Facing ranked competition for the first time in 2023, the Bruins’ hurlers allowed a combined 14 runs on 22 hits, nine walks and three hit batters through five contests. Though the staff’s ERA remains below 2.00, UCLA knows – perhaps better than anyone else – that having multiple arms capable of mowing down ranked competition is what really counts in June.

Spearheaded by Faraimo’s 31 strikeouts across 18 innings of work, which added three wins to her 7-0 record this season, pitching largely did what it was asked in Clearwater. But alone, it didn’t do enough to carry the blue and gold to the key victories it brought home.

The Bruins’ offense is responsible for the best record in the nation.

Down 3-2 against Louisiana in the seventh inning, sophomore utility Savannah Pola responded with a single to left center that knotted the score before redshirt junior utility Maya Brady’s single to right sent Pola home for the winning run.

Down 2-0 after Faraimo allowed a pair of earned runs in No. 11 Alabama’s first half inning of the game, freshman infielder Jordan Woolery responded with a grand slam in the bottom of the first to put UCLA ahead.

Again in a two-run hole early to No. 6 Florida State, UCLA’s offense responded with a four-run sixth inning to take the lead. And after Bruin pitchers allowed two more Seminoles to cross home plate, the offense responded by tacking on two runs in the seventh to steal the lead back.

Time and time again, it was UCLA’s batting – not its pitching – that responded and put the team in a winning position.

The Bruins’ seat on the throne will probably be short-lived. The chances of sweeping No. 3 Florida, No. 18 Kentucky, Iowa, No. 19 Northwestern and No. 2 Oklahoma in the span of four days – a feat UCLA will likely have to accomplish to retain its ranking – are slim to none.

But that was precisely the kind of challenge placed upon the Bruins when they left for Clearwater after narrowly escaping San Diego and Liberty days earlier, and they returned home having emphatically risen to that challenge.

Regardless of whether a statement or collapse awaits in Cathedral City, California, this weekend, the reality at this point in time is evident: UCLA’s return to the top is triumphant and clutch offense is to thank.