For the second time this offseason, the UCLA Bruins added a pitcher in the transfer portal. This time it was former Texas Longhorn Cambria Salmon, who announced that she was committing to join the Bruinson Instagram Wednesday.
UCLA needed these pitching additions, with the program losing senior Taylor Tinsley, who worked an amazing 235 innings in 2026 and 577.1 over her four-year career with the Bruins. Tinsley finished this season with the fourth-most innings in the country, which highlights just how much UCLA relied on the right-hander.
Salmon joins Meika Lauppe from Arizona State as the Tinsley replacements. Salmon just wrapped up her sophomore season with Texas, posting a 1.40 earned run average in just four appearances and 10 innings.
Texas gave Salmon more work in her freshman season, where she had a 2.48 ERA and a 7-2 record in 62 innings. The Longhorns landed Salmon as a top recruit, with Extra Innings Softball ranking her as the No. 4 player in the class.
The former five-star recruit is coming home too, with Salmon being a Beaumont, California native who was a three-time All-State CIF player during her time at Beaumont High School. It wouldn’t be much of a surprise to see Salmon step up and become UCLA’s ace in 2026. She’ll be competing alongside Lauppe, and returners Natalie Cable, Sydney Somerndike and Brynee Nally.
The Bruins lost some serious punch in their lineup, with Jordan Woolery and Megan Grant graduating from the program but the offense should still have enough talent to battle for another Women’s College World Series berth in 2027.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: Texas pitcher Cambria Salmon joins UCLA via transfer portal
