Kylee Perez sets high standard for UCLA softball

Junior Kylee Perez leads UCLA in hitting heading into this weekend’s Super Regional against Mississippi. (Photo courtesy Katie Meyers)

Kylee Perez is a shortstop by nature, but the junior has turned into a formidable second baseman for UCLA.

While leading her team in hitting, Perez earned her first All-Pac-12 Defensive Team honor this year as her pairing with shortstop Delaney Spaulding proved to be the strength of UCLA’s team.

“There’s a mentality and a physicality about the second basemen in our program,” head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “They have this ability to be scrappy, high IQ, do whatever it takes for the team. It’s a unique position, but Kylee does an outstanding job playing it.”

Perez can sometimes be overshadowed on a team bursting with stars, but she is the unquestioned emotional leader for the fifth-seeded Bruins who host No. 12 Mississippi this weekend in an NCAA Super Regional.

More on how Perez sets the tone for the Bruins 

NCAA SOFTBALL SUPER REGIONAL

  • No. 5 UCLA (45-12) vs. No. 12 Mississippi (43-18)
  • Easton Stadium
  • Thursday, 6 p.m., ESPN
  • Friday, 6 p.m., ESPNU
  • Saturday, 4 p.m., ESPN (if necessary)