Claire Sua

LOS ANGELES, CA - UCLA senior first baseman Claire Sua has had the career of a lifetime. She has gone to three NCAA championship games and walked away with the title twice in her college career. She was named first team NFCA Louisville Slugger All-American her junior year and second team her senior year.

She was born in Cooper City, FL and attended St. Thomas Aquinas High School where she was named the Gatorade Player of the Year for the State of Florida and was a four-time State Player of the Year. In her last season at UCLA, Sua has hit clean up all season and has been the Bruins’ regular at first base after splitting time between designated player and first base throughout the previous three years of her career.

"This year we had our ups and downs," said Sua in a phone interview. "What I am most proud of is that in the end we got it together and focused on getting the win, no matter how we did it. We didn’t win the Pac-10, but we came through when it mattered." Sua’s plans are to spend the fall semester finishing school, then trying for a spot on a professional team. She had previously been drafted by the Arizona Heat, but felt that finishing school is her top priority.

Unlike other national awards, SWM/Akadema Player of the Year takes into account post-season play when picking recipients. Claire Sua had an outstanding playoff season, hitting the game-tying solo home run on the first pitch of the fifth inning that broke up a perfect game being tossed by Cal’s Kelly Anderson. She totaled 10 home runs this season and 31 RBI. She also boasted a .983 fielding percentage, with only 8 errors in 56 games. Congratulations Claire!