Bubba Nickles

Personal: Nickles graduated from UCLA in 2021 with a degree in sociology. She has two rescue dogs named Rufus and May. Nickles considers UCLA head softball coach Kelly Inouye-Perez as someone who has made a difference in her life. If she wasn't playing softball, she would be a college softball coach. Nickles participated in various sports growing up, including gymnastics, basketball, soccer, volleyball, and track and field. Her hobbies include visiting new coffee shops, going to the beach with friends and family, and cooking. Nickles’ first name is Madilyn, but she has gone by the nickname Nickles since she was 12 years old. She wears No. 48 because it was her number in high school and college. She also chose No. 48 because 4 is her favorite number and 8 is her father's lucky number. Nickles’ walk-up song is "No Longer Bound" by Forrest Frank and Hulvey.

2022 Championship Season: Nickles was a member of the 2022 Athletes Unlimited Softball All-Defensive Team and finished in 30th place on the leaderboard with 1,144 points. She earned 334 stat points and 140 MVP points. Nickles started all 15 games and had a batting average of .333 with four home runs and 14 runs batted in. Her highest leaderboard points were 220 against Team Zerkle in Week One. She had a five-game hitting streak to start the season and recorded three hits against Team Harshman on August 6. Nickles also hit a home run in three consecutive games from July 30 to August 5. She ended the season by going 2-for-3 with a home run against Team Mulipola.

2021 Championship Season: Nickles tallied 808 leaderboard points in her debut. She started eight games and had a batting average of .192 with a double and a home run. She also drove in five runs and registered a sacrifice fly.

International Experience: Nickles has international experience playing for Team USA. She won a Silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, going 1-for-2 in two games. She also won Gold medals at the 2015 and 2017 WBSC Junior Women’s World Championships. Nickles had an impressive performance at the 2016 World Cup of Softball, with a .500 batting average, a home run, and three runs batted in. She played for the United States Junior National Team in 2015 and the USA Elite Team in 2016. Nickles also competed with Team USA during the Japan All-Star Series in 2018. She participated in The 2022 World Games in Birmingham, Alabama, helping Team USA win a Gold medal. In the semifinal victory against Australia, Nickles scored three runs and registered a hit.

Other Professional Experience: Nickles played for the Toyota Red Terriers of the Japan Diamond League in 2022 and 2023. During the 2022 season, she ranked among the league leaders with a .390 batting average. She hit eight home runs, drove in 22 runs, and had five doubles.

At UCLA: Nickles was a four-year letter winner and started 215 out of 217 games from 2017 to 2021. She took a redshirt in the 2020 season to compete with Team USA at the "Stand Beside Her" Tour. Nickles had a career batting average of .357 with 42 home runs and 181 runs batted in. She recorded 235 hits, including 42 doubles and four triples, and scored 154 runs. In 2019, Nickles was a Second-Team NFCA All-American and a three-time All-Pac-12 Conference pick, earning First-Team honors in 2018 and 2019. She was also named to the 2017 Pac-12 All-Freshman Team and received First-Team NFCA All-Region honors in 2018 and 2019. In 2021, Nickles was named a Senior CLASS Award First-Team All-American after hitting .312 with four home runs and 22 runs batted in. She also had six doubles and scored 16 runs. Nickles was a two-time member of the Women's College World Series All-Tournament Team. She tied for ninth in program history with nine career sacrifice flies and scored 66 runs during her junior season, which ranks fourth on the Bruins' single-season list. Nickles also drove in 72 runs in 2019, which is tied for fourth in program history. She had a 21-game hitting streak from March 31 to May 18, 2019, which is fourth on the Bruins' all-time list.