Personal: Nickles-Camarena graduated from UCLA in 2021 with a degree in sociology. She earned her master’s degree in education at UCLA in 2024 while serving as a graduate assistant for the Bruins softball team. On October 2, 2024, she was named a full-time assistant coach on the Bruins’ staff. She has three rescue dogs named Rufus, May, and Gnarley. Nickles-Camarena lists her father, Ted, as a person who has made a difference in her life. Growing up, she competed in gymnastics, basketball, soccer, volleyball, and track and field. Her hobbies include cooking, going to the beach, taking long walks, and working out. She also knows how to juggle. Nickles-Camarena says Lolo Jones is one of her idols because she embodies what it means to be a strong female athlete. Her first name is Madilyn, but she has gone by the nickname Bubba since she was 12 years old. She wears No. 48 because it was her number in high school and college. She also chose No. 48 because 4 is her favorite number, and 8 is her father’s lucky number. Her walk-up song is “Your Way’s Better” by Forrest Frank. Nickles-Camarena married her husband, Evan, in March 2024, which she considers her proudest accomplishment. In high school, she was a pitcher and earned Gatorade Player of the Year honors as a senior.
2025 AUSL All-Star Cup: Nickles-Camarena collected 710 total leaderboard points during the All-Star Cup, including 610 win points and 100 stat points. She posted five games with 100 or more leaderboard points and started eight games, batting .250 with six hits in 24 at-bats, including one double. Nickles-Camarena hit safely in four of her final five games, highlighted by a two-hit performance against Team Coffel on August 30 as part of a season-high 160-point effort. She opened the All-Star Cup by recording 130 leaderboard points in back-to-back victories against Team Ocasio and Team Corrick and finished the campaign with 120 points against Team Garcia on August 31. Nickles-Camarena was also the recipient of the 2025 AUSL Impact Award.
2025 AUSL Regular Season: Bubba Nickles-Camarena earned a starting assignment in 23 of 24 games while helping the Bandits secure an AUSL Championship appearance. She ranked second in the AUSL with seven home runs and 80 at-bats and posted a .213 batting average with 17 hits, including three doubles. Nickles-Camarena drove in 18 runs and scored 11 times while also drawing five walks. She became the first player in Bandits history to hit two home runs in a single game after belting a pair of homers against the Talons on July 12 as part of a 4-for-4 performance that included four RBIs, three runs scored, and a double. She opened the season by hitting safely in six of her first eight games, including two home runs. Nickles-Camarena recorded three hits, including two doubles and a home run, with two RBIs against the Blaze on June 22 and opened a series against the Talons on July 11 with a three-run home run. She added a solo home run against the Volts on July 18 at Dell Diamond and went 3-for-6 across two games during the AUSL Championship against the Talons.
2024 Championship Season: Nickles-Camarena posted a 30th-place finish after accumulating 1,148 leaderboard points, including 670 win points. She tied for seventh in the league with 298 stat points and secured 180 MVP points, ranking third in the 61-player field. Nickles-Camarena earned AU Pro Softball All-Defensive Team honors for the third consecutive season and received four Game MVP certificates. As a starter in all 15 games, Nickles-Camarena hit .304 with 14 hits, including six extra-base hits. She tied for the league lead with three home runs and added three doubles. Nickles-Camarena led the league with 14 runs batted in and also scored seven runs, drawing three walks. She finished second in the league with a .565 slugging percentage and ranked fourth on the OPS chart (.925). Nickles-Camarena tallied at least one hit in 9 of her 15 outings, including four multi-hit games. She closed Week Four with an MVP 2 performance and a season-high 220 leaderboard points after going 2-for-2 with a home run and two RBIs against Team Faraimo. She also earned 220 leaderboard points in the Week Five opener, securing MVP 1 recognition against Team Corrick after belting a three-run home run in Team Ocasio’s 5-1 victory. Nickles-Camarena secured 190 leaderboard points and MVP 1 honors with three hits and three RBIs against Team McQuillin on August 2. She earned MVP 3 distinction against Team Palacios on August 11 and posted four games with 100 or more leaderboard points.
2024 AUX Season: Nickles-Camarena 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-Camarena 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-Camarena 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-Camarena 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-Camarena 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-Camarena 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-Camarena 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-Camarena 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-Camarena 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-Camarena 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-Camarena 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-Camarena 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-Camarena 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-Camarena 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-Camarena 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-Camarena 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-Camarena 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-Camarena 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-Camarena 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-Camarena 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-Camarena 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-Camarena 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-Camarena 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-Camarena 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-Camarena 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-Camarena 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-Camarena 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-Camarena 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.
