Sports
Sharlize Palacios brings peace and passion to UCLA's Women's College World Series run
This time, the adrenaline didn’t rush through Sharlize Palacios’ body. Stepping into the batter’s box with the bases loaded, down four runs to Arizona on Senior Day at Easton Stadium, the UCLA catcher didn’t feel stressed. She didn’t feel pressure as the Bruins were trying to mount a seven-run comeback. She felt at peace.
She felt her grandmother.
Inspired by her late grandmother Lori Barajas and strengthened by a tight-knit family, Palacios has led No. 6 UCLA back to the Women’s College World Series, where the Bruins will face three-time defending champion Oklahoma on Saturday at noon PST (ABC) at Oklahoma City’s Devon Park. The winner advances to Monday’s national semifinals.
Starting with Palacios’ clutch grand slam against Arizona on April 28, UCLA (43-10) has won 14 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the country. When the ball smacked off Palacios’ bat, she immediately raised both arms over her head. When it flew over the fence, she turned her palms to the sky and tilted her head back.
“This whole season has been kind of my testimony,” Palacios said. “A lot of the times that I’ve been down and we’ve been behind, I literally feel my grandma when I’m playing.”
Barajas was a strong-willed woman, Palacios recalled. She was also “the sweetest lady.” She loved cooking for her family and hosting parties. She was too nervous to watch her grandchildren’s games live, but loved tuning in on TV as long as she knew they won. She was a devoted Christian.
When Barajas died near the beginning of the 2023 softball season at 78, Palacios lost her faith. She was already navigating life with a new program after transferring from Arizona, and to do it while grieving left her in “a weird spot,” Palacios said. Then she suffered a season-ending hand injury on April 22 against Arizona State.
“I felt a lot of guilt,” Palacios said. “I wanted to help the team any way I could and I felt like I was helpless.”
The Bruins racked up 52 regular-season wins, the most for the program since 2001, but didn’t win a postseason game. Shortstop Maya Brady, who played travel ball with Palacios since they were 12, noted how the dynamic shifted on the field without the three-time Pac-12 all-defensive team player.
Palacios was resigned to calling pitches from the dugout in an attempt to contribute. Off the field, she found solace in her family, which was back together in Southern California after the Chula Vista native had transferred to UCLA.
“She was meant to end her career at this program,” older sister Sashel said.
UCLA catcher Sharlize Palacios tags out Alabama’s Kali Heivilin at the plate during the fifth inning of the Bruins’ Women’s College World Series win on Thursday.
(Brandon Wade / Associated Press)
Palacios saved her best for her final season in college. Fueled by gratitude instilled from mental performance coach Armando Gonzalez, the four-time all-conference honoree was named a second-team All-American by the National Fastpitch Coaches Assn., her first All-American honor. She has a team-high 20 home runs and ranks second in RBIs with 57.
But as a guiding force for two underclassmen pitchers in their first postseasons, the 5-foot-6 catcher’s most valuable asset comes from beyond the stat sheet.
“Her biggest muscle is her heart,” UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “It’s been a very intentional leadership [from] her to understand that she needs to be firm with her pitchers, but she also needs to be with them. … They love her, but they listen to her, and that’s called respect.”
Palacios learned the art of catching from her father Francisco, who passed it to all three of his kids. He played catcher and was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in 1992. Sashel represented Mexico at the Tokyo Olympics after starring at Arizona State. Youngest brother Sabian, who will graduate from high school in June and begin college at San Diego studying engineering, also played catcher in baseball.
Palacios had a brief flirtation with pitching, but after she asked her grandfather if she did well in her first game in the circle, he said, “You sucked.” She never pitched again.
Sitting in the team hotel in Oklahoma City, Palacios can laugh at the memory. From following her father and older sister, she knew she was meant to be a catcher. The family practiced together in the front yard, learning to appreciate the intricacies of the position that often are overshadowed. A catcher’s subtle blocked ball or well-timed break in play don’t show up in box scores. Instead it’s the pitchers who gets to write their name in the record books after a perfect game or the team that gets to hoist another trophy.
For Palacios, those rewards are more than enough.
“My flowers come from hearing the team do well, hearing my teammates doing well and especially the pitchers,” she said. “Whenever the pitchers get praise, it fills my cup for what I need.”
The catcher, Francisco always told his kids, is “the mom to the pitchers.”
From being the eager younger sibling following around Sashel, Palacios now fills the older sister role by inviting the pitchers on coffee runs to bond. In the circle, when she sees sophomore Taylor Tinsley or freshman Kaitlyn Terry getting sped up, she instructs them to take deep breaths. Even when Terry, a stone-faced freshman with an intense competitive streak, tries to shake off Palacios’ timeout calls, the catcher can break through.
When Tinsley entered Thursday’s first-round game at the World Series, she quickly loaded the bases on a four-pitch walk in the fifth inning. Tinsley wasn’t nervous, Palacios knew, but the sophomore was spinning the ball so well in her first World Series appearance that it was spinning out of the zone. Palacios met with the pitcher in the circle.
“It’s just me, you, and the glove,” Palacios said.
Tinsley got out of the jam with Alabama scoring only one run. Palacios connected with right fielder Megan Grant for a play at the plate to end the inning.
“She’s such a leader,” Tinsley said of Palacios before the World Series. “It’s honestly intimidating. If I was the other team, I’d be intimidated by just her presence behind the plate.”
Sashel, five years older than her sister, loves seeing Palacios in her element in her final college season. This season, with five dramatic comeback wins of four or more runs, feels “written in the stars,” Sashel said. After several heartbreaking plot twists, Palacios has put her trust in the script.
“A year later after being injured and losing our grandma, she has really matured and there’s a sense of peace that she’s playing with a lot of passion,” Sashel said. “But it’s a very reassuring presence. There’s no need to add more stress. She knows it’s gonna get done.”
The Cleveland Browns, rumored to be willing to trade down from their No. 6 overall selection in the 2026 NFL draft, did just that Thursday evening when the traded the pick to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Cleveland traded the sixth overall pick in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft to the Chiefs, in exchange for the ninth overall pick, as well as pick No. 74 in the third round and No. 148 in the fifth round.
The Browns now hold the No. 9 and No. 24 picks in the first round of the draft. They have a total of 11 picks in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Quarterbacks Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson of the Cleveland Browns watch from the sidelines during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland, Ohio, on Sept. 7, 2025. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)
So the Chiefs gave up three picks in making the first trade of the first round.
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And we know what the fan bases of both clubs were thinking prior to the selection:
Chiefs fans were thinking we know something they don’t. And then the Chiefs selected cornerback Mansoor Delane from LSU — a move no doubt forced by the club’s trade of Pro Bowl cornerback Trent McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams earlier in the offseason.
So, the Chiefs fill a major need, assuming Delane is indeed the quality corner they believe.
LSU Tigers CB Mansoor Delane celebrates a defensive stop against the Clemson Tigers at Memorial Stadium in South Carolina. (Ken Ruinard/USA TODAY Network)
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ESPN’s Mel Kiper didn’t like the pick, by the way. He had Delane as the 14th best player in the draft.
“It was a necessity,” ESPN analyst Louis Riddick, a former NFL defensive back, responded.
Browns fans weren’t thinking that way.
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They were probably thinking something akin to “We screwed up.”
This is understandable because they’re Browns fans and this could have been the Browns Browning.
Well, the Browns, moving down three slots, gave up a shot to draft linebacker Sonny Styles of Ohio State to the Washington Commanders, receiver Jordyn Tyson to the New Orleans Saints and then the Browns got their chance with the newly acquired No. 9 pick:
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Offensive tackle Spencer Fano of Utah.
Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry speaks at the NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Ind., on Feb. 24, 2026. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
Fano is good. And he makes the Browns offensive line instantly better because he’s going to likely start at left tackle for them.
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So what will Browns fans think of this pick?
They’ll probably wonder why the Browns didn’t pick Miami’s Francis Mauigoa, who went with the No. 10 pick to the New York Giants and promised “to die for” Jaxson Dart if necessary. They’ll wonder this because Browns fans expect the worst.
UCLA women’s basketball team has added some star power as its revamped roster begins to take shape.
Former Iowa State forward Addy Brown announced Thursday she is committing to UCLA, giving the Bruins one of the top players in the portal.
Brown averaged 11.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game while shooting 43.1% from the floor and 33.8% from three-point distance with the Cyclones last season. She played just 21 games due to injury, but she is one of the better two-way players in the nation on the transfer market.
The 6-foot-2 forward co-starred with Audi Crooks for Iowa State the past few seasons and was a part of the mass exodus from the Cyclones’ program.
The Bruins reeled in former North Carolina junior guard Elina Aarnisalo and former Texas Christian senior guard Donovyn Hunter a few weeks ago, adding two more experienced players to the depleted starting lineup after a record six UCLA players were selected in the WNBA draft.
UCLA also signed Arkansas sophomore guard Bonnie Deas earlier this month. She is likely to start at point guard for the Bruins and is one of the best rebounding guards in the nation.
Along with returner Timea Gardiner, the Bruins are starting to form somewhat of a core to defend their national championship. Gardiner was a starter during UCLA’s 2024-25 Final Four run, but missed all of this past season with injury and has one season of eligibility left.
A lineup with Deas and Aarnisalo in the backcourt, Hunter at the three and Gardiner or Brown at the four and adding another big or Sienna Betts at the five would be a competitive lineup in the Big Ten.
Before going to TCU, Hunter played two seasons at Oregon State where she earned All-Pac-12 Defensive Team honorable mention and All-Pac-12 Freshman team honors. This past season with a Horned Frogs team that went to the Sweet 16, she was third in scoring with 10.2 points per game and averaged 3.2 rebounds per contest. She also shot 45.7% from the field and was 33.7% from beyond the arc.
Aarnisalo played her freshman year in Westwood after she originally committed to UCLA in 2025. Due to injuries from point guard Kiki Rice at the start of the 2024-25 season, she was forced into action early her freshman season and finished the year averaging 5.1 points per game.
The Helsinki, Finland, native averaged 10.2 points per game for the Tar Heels as a sophomore last season while shooting 47.3% from the field and 40.3% from the arc. The Bruins will desperately need to replace the three-point production lost with the departure of Rice, Gianna Kneepkens and Charlisse Leger-Walker.
UCLA coach Cori Close said she wanted to sign five players from the portal. She probably needs one more guard and a little more forward depth coming off the bench following the departures of Gabriela Jaquez and Angela Dugalic.
Lena Bilic and Amanda Muse are returners coming off the bench who got a little bit of playing time in the tournament and should have much larger roles, but they are still relatively unproven in late-game situations. They will get a chance to develop as backups with some more Power Four experienced starters now in the fold.
Trump says there’s ‘no time frame’ to secure Iran deal
Republican Minnesota Senate candidate Tom Weiler joins ‘Fox & Friends’ to discuss President Donald Trump’s blockade in the Strait of Hormuz as the U.S.-Iranian conflict continues and react to Gov. Tim Walz’s, D-Minn., criticism of the president.
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Saudi Arabia was among the countries seeing missiles fly into their airspace as a conflict broke out in the Middle East between the U.S. and Iran.
The prospect of Iran targeting its Middle Eastern neighbors like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates put some sporting events on hold and questioned others. Formula 1 races in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain were canceled and rumors swirled around whether future WWE events could be held in the kingdom.
Roman Reigns celebrates his win during WWE’s Royal Rumble at Riyadh Season Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Jan. 31, 2026. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
As the Trump administration brokered a ceasefire with Iran, WWE announced on Thursday that its Night of Champions premium live event will be held in Riyadh on June 27.
“We are proud to welcome Night of Champions back to Riyadh and look forward to delivering another unforgettable night of WWE action for fans in the Kingdom and around the world,” General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki Al-Sheikh said in a news release.
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Sami Zayn makes his entrance during Night of Champions at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on June 28, 2025. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
The release touted that WrestleMania 43 will still be held in Riyadh in 2027. It will be the first time that WrestleMania is held outside the U.S.
WWE president Nick Khan was adamant before WrestleMania 42 that the event will still take place in Saudi Arabia despite the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
“We’re doing WrestleMania next year in Saudi,” he said at a Sports Business Journal event, via The Sporting Tribune. “First time ever, WrestleMania will be outside the United States or Canada. And we’ve had a big, fruitful partnership with them.”
John Cena wrestles CM Punk during Night of Champions at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on June 28, 2025. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
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He added that those complaining about WrestleMania being held in Saudi Arabia were a “vocal minority.”
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