It takes just one moment to become a star.

One chance.

One opportunity.

And Soo-Jin Berry has made the most of it.

The junior utility, who transferred from Iowa ahead of the 2026 season, has been a late bloomer in her first Westwood campaign.

Berry arrived at UCLA with two years of Big Ten softball experience under her belt. The Pittsburg, California, local started 88 games across her two-year stint in Iowa City, where she boasted a .330 batting average and recorded 59 RBIs.

“Knowing her since high school, I’ve always seen this greatness in her,” said senior infielder Jordan Woolery. “It’s honestly super cool to see it come to fruition, and everyone else be able to see this version of Soo-Jin.”

Head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez added that Berry stood out during UCLA’s two-game series against Iowa last season, when the then-sophomore hammered a pair of two-run home runs in the second game of the series and batted 4-for-7 at the plate across the weekend.

But the junior struggled to achieve that same production at the start of her Bruin career.

Berry started just eight games throughout the 2026 season prior to UCLA’s May 2 contest against Oregon despite earning a start in six of the Bruins’ first seven contests.

And during that season-opening stretch, the Iowa transfer notched just one hit across 13 at-bats.

Inouye-Perez benched Berry as a result, relegating the transfer to a pinch-hitting role, which seemingly hindered her plate approach.

But despite shifting roles, her teammates stayed by her side.

“Her role on this team is not defined to her outcome, and having her back, no matter what, no matter if that’s sending her a text, talking to her at practice,” Woolery said. “Knowing that I got her if she’s 4-for-4 or if she’s 0-for-4, my love for her does not change.”

The Bay Area local, who recorded a team-high 33 RBIs and nine home runs while boasting the second-highest batting average on the Hawkeye roster last year, was seemingly placed as a reserve option in the Bruin lineup.

Regardless, Berry said she had already embraced her decreased role with the Bruins by the time her new head coach dropped her from the everyday starting lineup.

“They still work very closely with me, and everyone, they tell us all that we all have a very important role to the game no matter what it is – whether it’s you’re cheering in the dugout all the time for your regular starters, or they call on you for a moment that they need you, then they’re going to have full trust in you,” Berry said after UCLA’s 13-6 victory against Cal Baptist on April 14.

Up until the second game of the Oregon series May 2, Berry only had 10 hits to her name despite posting 53 in her final season at Iowa.

As Berry remained a pinch-hitting option, she struggled to break the plate slump that plagued her junior campaign.

“There was a moment where she didn’t get the outcome, and she was pretty frustrated,” Inouye-Perez said. “She is a hitter. This girl straight beat us just last year, … and she’s a pure hitter, but the game is going to challenge you. So then I said, ‘You’re going to come up with a big hit if you understand that you’re going to get another opportunity.’”

And she did not waste the opportunity she received heading into the postseason.

Berry has started every game for the Bruins since May 2, including the entirety of the Bruins’ postseason campaign thus far.

The 2025 NFCA All-Midwest Region Second Team selection has recorded at least one hit in five of her six postseason appearances this year, plating nine runners across her Big Ten tournament and Los Angeles regional outings – more RBIs than she combined for throughout the regular season.

The junior even lifted her first career grand slam against Wisconsin on May 8 to help spearhead UCLA’s 19-5 run-rule triumph.

Additionally, she hammered a crucial two-run home run against Cal Baptist in UCLA’s first LA regional contest, and she kept the team alive with a one-out single in the bottom of the seventh when the Bruins were on the verge of an early collapse while trailing by two.

Freshman utility Jolyna Lamar plated Berry in the very next at-bat on a game-tying home run that propelled the Bruins to the winners’ bracket.

Berry also helped UCLA seal its run-rule triumph against South Carolina to clinch a super regional berth, blasting a two-run home run in the top of the sixth to plate the final runs in the Bruins’ 14-run victory.

Inouye-Perez said managing failure has driven Berry’s growth in her first year alongside the 20th-year head honcho.

“It’s understanding how to manage the failure,” Inouye-Perez said. “A big part of being a Bruin is getting to the next at-bat, and I’m so proud of her because she’s just playing right now.”

But Berry is not getting complacent despite her breakout postseason performance.

Instead, she said her ability to embrace the role her team demands of her, no matter how ostensibly small her contributions are, has elicited success.

“I can show up for my teammates in whatever way possible,” Berry said. “That’s really been what’s been driving me to be as successful as I am right now.”