UCLA softball player Briana Perez has a 30-page paper due this week. Pitcher Megan Faraimo has a final exam due at noon on Thursday. And the Women’s College World Series begins on Thursday morning in Oklahoma City.

With the last day of class slated for June 10, the Bruins are still very much student-athletes at this point in the season.

“In study hall, those two hours of study hall, there are a few tears from a lot of us,” Perez, a graduate student, said. “But we’re all in it together.”

Perez recalled a time when the team physically sat down together to help Faraimo with a final paper during the postseason. With fifth-seeded UCLA (48-8) slated to play Texas (43-19-1) on Thursday at 9 a.m. PT, she’s just about mastered the school-slash-WCWS balance.

“It’s something that’s going to help us in the real world,” Faraimo said. “So my best advice would just be, like, compartmentalize everything and be where your feet are. Do what you’ve got to do.”

The Bruins’ feet will soon be standing on the same field as unseeded Texas, which upset fourth-seeded Arkansas in three games at the NCAA Fayetteville (Ark.) Super Regional to reach the WCWS for the first time since 2013. This is UCLA’s seventh consecutive appearance in the eight-team, double-elimination event as it goes for its 13th NCAA title.

Sophia Simpson threw a complete-game shutout in the Longhorns’ clinching 3-0 victory over the Razorbacks. Also, Hailey Dolcini is 3-2 with a 1.52 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 32-1/3 this postseason.

At the plate, Janae Jefferson has hit .522 with three home runs, three doubles and nine runs scored over the last seven games.

“She’s a great athlete and I have to respect her bat as a slapper and a hitter,” Faraimo said. “I think mostly a hitter, but my goal is to throw the best pitches I can, make the ball move, and hopefully she won’t hit one off me.”

Delanie Wisz leads UCLA offensively with a .500 batting average and a team-best 12 RBIs so far this postseason.

Maya Brady has stepped it over the past 10 games, hitting .469 with a .906 slugging percentage. The sophomore hit her 14th home run of the season in an 8-2 victory over Duke in the second game of the Los Angeles Super Regional last weekend.

Related Articles

“She’s a dangerous hitter,” UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “Getting away from the expectations and noise and getting back to just playing softball. I would put her in any situation at any time because the girl has succeeded under pressure her whole career.”

Faraimo continues to lead the Bruins in the circle with plenty of support from Holly Azevedo. Faraimo was named the Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year and leads the conference with 278 strikeouts, while Azevedo owns a 1.19 ERA with 136 strikeouts.

As the academics continue in the background, UCLA has all the pieces in place to begin the WCWS on a high note.

“It’s definitely hard to focus, especially being here,” Perez said. “But we put in the work at the beginning of the quarter because I was hoping that we’d be here, and that’s exactly where we are.”

NO. 5 UCLA (48-8) VS. TEXAS (43-19-1)

When: Thursday, 9 a.m.

Where: USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium, Oklahoma City

TV: ESPN