Rachel Garcia

Personal: Garcia was named an assistant softball coach at UC San Diego on Oct. 7, 2022, after serving as a volunteer assistant coach at San Diego State. She majored in history at UCLA and has two dogs named Bella and Harley. Garcia lists her former coaches Marty Tyson and Lisa Fernandez as people who have made a difference in her life. She participated in soccer, basketball, volleyball, and arts and crafts as a child. Garcia also grew up playing the guitar. Her hobbies include jet skiing, line dancing, playing pickleball, and running. She also enjoys spending time with her family and has a passion for American Sign Language. Garcia likes to have an iced coffee before a game and is superstitious about her hair on game day. She has worn No. 00 during her entire career outside of international competition, and her walk-up song is “‘Til You Can’t” by Cody Johnson.

2023 Championship Season: Garcia placed fourth in the final league standings with 1,800 leaderboard points. She joined Sam Apuzzo as the only athlete in any Athletes Unlimited sport to earn a medal in three seasons. Moreover, Garcia set the Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball single-season record by accruing 800 stat points. She also secured the league-high 280 MVP points, which was the fourth-highest single-season total in AU Pro Softball history. Additionally, Garcia received the league-high six Game MVP awards. She served as a team captain during Week Two. In terms of her performance, Garcia belted the league-best five home runs while adding 10 runs batted in, which were tied for fourth in the circuit. She ranked second in the league with a .675 slugging percentage and finished with a .250 batting average over 14 games. In the circle, Garcia compiled a 5-3 record, tying for second in the league for wins. She fashioned a 2.45 earned run average in 13 appearances after allowing 19 runs over a league-best 54.1 innings. Furthermore, Garcia finished with a league-high 66 strikeouts, the second single-season total in league history. She limited opposing batters to a .179 average, good for second in the league. Garcia struck out five or more hitters in 9-of-13 outings, including a season-high seven strikeouts three times. She retired the side in order 15 times, which tied with Megan Faraimo for the league lead. Garcia allowed just three runs over her final four outings with 24 strikeouts in 19.0 innings. She matched the Championship Season single-game record with 290 leaderboard points on July 31 against Team Mulipola. Garcia earned MVP 1 honors after allowing one run on three hits over 5.0 innings with five strikeouts in the victory. She also went 2-for-2 at the plate with a double and a home run while driving in two runs. Garcia claimed MVP 2 distinction in the August 12 triumph against Team Faraimo, scattering three hits with six strikeouts over 6.0 innings. She claimed MVP 1 accolades in back-to-back winning efforts against Team Davidson (August 20) and Team Flippen (August 25). Garcia gave up two runs on four hits with seven strikeouts in the Week Four finale against Team Davidson. She matched her season-high with seven strikeouts while allowing just three hits in 5.0 innings to start Week Five against Team Flippen. Garcia received MVP 2 notice in the final appearance of the season after giving up one run on five hits in 6.0 innings with six strikeouts against Team Alexander. Garcia closed the season with a four-game hitting streak, including two home runs and five runs batted in. She also opened the campaign with a hit in all three games during Week One. Garcia belted a home run in back-to-back games to complete Week One. She collected 100 or more leaderboard points in a game six times, including league-high five outings with 200 or more points.

2023 AUX Season: In the 2023 AUX season, Garcia was crowned the AUX Softball champion after accumulating 1,392 leaderboard points over 10 games. She set a new AUX single-season record with 462 stat points and led the league with 220 MVP points. She earned five Game MVP awards, including two MVP 1 honors. Garcia also achieved the feat of registering 500 or more leaderboard points in a series, tallying a league-high 594 points in Series Two. On June 14, she broke the Athletes Unlimited Softball single-game record with 298 leaderboard points against Team Mulipola. In that game, she went 3-for-4 at the plate with a double and a home run. She also struck out six batters over 4.0 innings, allowing only one unearned run on one hit. She topped the league with a 3.19 earned run average and had a 4-1 record in eight appearances as a pitcher. She also set new AUX single-season standards with 34 strikeouts and 37.1 innings pitched. She showcased her skills as a pitcher by throwing a complete game and earning a win over Team Leach on June 21. In that game, she allowed two earned runs on three hits while striking out five hitters. Garcia consistently pitched 5.0 or more innings in her final four outings. Additionally, she excelled at the plate, hitting .313 with one home run and eight runs batted in. She also recorded three doubles and scored twice, and had three multi-hit games. 

2022 Championship Season: Garcia finished in eighth place with 1,558 leaderboard points, including a league-high 240 MVP points. She also ranked third with 508 stat points. She had a 3-2 record with a 2.29 earned run average in 13 appearances. She tied for the Athletes Unlimited lead with seven starts and set a league record with three saves. Garcia tallied three complete games with one solo shutout and registered three hits at the plate while scoring a run. She also drew three walks. Garcia allowed one run on five hits with a season-high nine strikeouts in a complete game effort against Team Chidester in the Week Four finale. She threw a complete game shutout with eight strikeouts against Team Mulipola during Week Five and struck out six hitters in Week Three against Team Chidester in a complete game outing.

2022 AUX Season: Garcia finished second on the leaderboard with 1,422 points. She led the league with six game MVP honors. Garcia had a .333 batting average with nine hits, including a league-high three home runs. She also drove in nine runs while scoring four runs. Garcia had a 2-1 record in the circle with eight appearances, including a league-high five starts. She ranked second in the league with 25 strikeouts over 27.0 innings. Garcia posted three multi-hit games over the final seven outings at the plate. She hit two home runs and drove in three runs against Team Fischer on June 23. Garcia also hit a home run in the season finale against Team Fischer on June 25. She threw a season-high 5.0 innings against Team Eberle on June 15, posting three strikeouts. Garcia registered a season-high six strikeouts against Team Zerkle on June 23 in the Series Three opener.

2021 Season: Garcia was one of 12 players selected in Athletes Unlimited Softball College Draft.

International Experience: Garcia helped the United States win the 2022 WBSC Pan American Championship. She registered a team-high 16 strikeouts over 10.0 innings during round-robin play while allowing just two hits. Garcia also pitched a complete game victory against Canada in the playoff round, striking out five hitters in an 8-2 verdict. She was a member of Team USA who won the Silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Garcia posted a 1.05 earned run average with 13 strikeouts in 6.2 innings at the 2018 WBSC Women’s World Championship. She helped Team USA win the Gold medal and had a walk-off hit against Japan in the semifinals. Garcia also led Team USA to Gold medals at the 2019 Japan Cup and 2019 Pan American Games. She competed in the 2018 USA Softball International Cup, fashioning a 1.31 earned run average with 11 strikeouts in 5.1 innings.

At UCLA: Garcia was a five-year letter winner at UCLA. She authored a 99-17 career record with 11 saves and appeared in 149 career games with 95 starts. Garcia compiled 66 career complete games and 28 shutouts. She finished her career with 996 strikeouts in 749.0 innings and also posted a .337 career batting average at the plate with 214 hits, including 43 home runs. Garcia drove in 175 career runs, including 54 during her freshman season. She tallied 50 hits in a season three times. Garcia was a three-time recipient of Honda Award for Softball (2018, 2019, 2021) and also received the Honda Cup in 2019 and 2021. She was honored as the 2018 and 2021 NFCA Division I Player of the Year and also earned NFCA Division I Pitcher of the Year accolades in 2019. Garcia was a two-time Women’s College World Series All-Tournament Team selection who was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2019 tournament. She is fourth in UCLA history with 99 victories and also stands fifth in program history with 149 appearances and 813 career strikeouts. Garcia is tied for second on the Bruins’ career saves list. She was a three-time First-Team NFCA All-America selection and also garnered Second-Team All-America notice in 2017. Garcia was named an All-Pac-12 First Team four times, including three Player of the Year commendations. She was honored as the 2019 Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year and received the NFCA and Pac-12 Freshman of the Year distinction in 2017. Garcia was a two-time selection as USA Softball Player of the Year in 2018 and 2019 and was the winner of the 2021 Senior CLASS Award. She was selected as the 2019 Los Angeles Sportswoman of the Year.