Bubba Nickles

Personal: Nickles graduated from UCLA in 2021 with a degree in sociology and earned her master’s degree at UCLA in 2024 while serving as a graduate assistant for the Bruins softball team. She has three rescue dogs named Rufus, May, and Gnarley. Nickles lists her father, Ted, as a person who has made a difference in her life and models her game after Katie Cochran. If not playing softball, she would be a college softball coach. Growing up, she competed in 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. She also knows how to juggle and lists having Lolo Jones follow her on Instagram as a moment when she felt starstruck. Although her first name is Madilyn, she has gone by the nickname Bubba since she was 12 years old. Nickles wears No. 48 because it was her number in high school and college; she chose it because 4 is her favorite number and 8 is her father’s lucky number. Her walk-up song is “No Longer Bound” by Forrest Frank and Hulvey. In March 2024, she married her husband, Evan. Nickles was a pitcher in high school who earned Gatorade Player of the Year honors as a senior.

2024 AUX Season: Nickles was crowned the 2024 Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball AUX champion on the final day of the season after leading her team to a doubleheader sweep. She ended the campaign just six points ahead of designated player Jocelyn Alo to win the title in the closest finish in any Athletes Unlimited season. Nickles rose from fourth place to first place after collecting 230 points in victories over Team Mazon and Team Alo. She accumulated 1,344 leaderboard points, including 890 win points and 314 stat points. Nickles joined Alo as the only player who held the top spot on the leaderboard after a game day during the season. She was a four-time Game MVP honoree and tied with corner infielders Delanie Wisz and Kelsey Stewart-Hunter for the league lead with 540 inning win points. Nickles also fashioned a 7-5 game win record, including a 3-1 mark as a captain during the final series of the season. She tied for second in the league with corner infielder Tori Vidales and designated player Nadia Taylor after earning four Game MVP certificates. Nickles led the league by earning 100 or more leaderboard points in 8-of-12 games, including a league-high four efforts of 150 or more points. She was one of four players in the league with multiple 200-point performances during the season. Nickles was a starter in all 12 games and authored 10 hits, including a double. She was second in the league with five home runs and also drove in 11 runs while scoring eight times. Nickles opened the season with MVP 2 honors against Team Leach, earning 208 leaderboard points with a 2-for-3 effort. She also drove in three runs while blasting her first home run of the year. Nickles was one of four players to slug two home runs in a game during the season, accomplishing the feat in a 2-for-4 performance against Team Warren on June 11 en route to MVP 2 recognition. She hit a home run against Team Alo on June 19 to secure the MVP 2 award and 200 leaderboard points. Nickles went 2-for-4 with a home run on June 22 in the Series Three opener against Team Mazon to garner the MVP 3 award. She ended the season with a five-game hitting streak.

2023 Championship Season: Nickles accumulated 1,598 leaderboard points, earning seventh place in the league standings. She received Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball All-Defensive Team notice for the second consecutive season. Tied with Sydney Romero for 10th place in the league, Nickles collected 1,130 win points. She also recorded 180 MVP points, ranking fifth in the league with four Game MVP honors. As a team captain in Week Four, she earned a 1-2 record. Starting all 15 games, Nickles hit .180 with 14 hits, including three doubles and two home runs. She tied for fourth in the league with nine runs scored and shared second place with Sydney Romero by recording 11 runs batted in. Additionally, she held a share of fourth place in the league rankings by collecting 23 total bases. Nickles hit safely in 11 consecutive games from July 31 to August 25. She was a two-time MVP 1 selection, going 3-for-3 against Team Zerkle on August 4 with a double and two RBI, earning a season-high 218 leaderboard points. She registered the game-winning RBI single against Team Urtez on August 18 in a 3-2 victory. Nickles was named MVP 3 on August 5 against Team Faraimo after blasting a three-run home run in a 10-3 victory. She garnered MVP 2 notice in the Week Three finale against Team Romero with a solo home run and two runs scored. Nickles opened Week Five with a two-hit outing against Team Flippen, including a double. She collected 100 or more leaderboard points in a game nine times, including eight straight games from July 31 to August 18.

2022 Championship Season: Nickles was a member of the 2022 Athletes Unlimited Pro 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 led Team USA to 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. At the 2016 World Cup of Softball, she posted a .500 batting average with a home run and three runs batted in. Nickles spent the summer of 2015 with the United States Junior National Team and the summer of 2016 with the USA Elite Team. She competed with Team USA during the Japan All-Star Series in 2018 and participated in The 2022 World Games in Birmingham, Alabama, appearing in four games and helping Team USA win the Gold medal. In the semifinal victory against Australia, she 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. She ranked among league leaders with a .390 batting average during the 2022 campaign, hitting eight home runs and driving in 22 runs. She also tallied 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.