ASA/USA Softball Names Top 3 Finalists for USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year

    By Fresno State Athletics on May 26, 2010 3:06 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
    By Alyssa Chambers / Fresno State Athletics Communications

    The Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America and USA Softball announced today the Top 3 Finalists for the 9th Annual USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year Award. This award, which is considered the most prestigious honors in Division I women's collegiate softball, is designed to recognize outstanding athletic achievement by female collegiate softball players across the country. Past winners of this award include UCLA's Stacey Nuveman, Florida State's Jessica Van der Linden, three-time winner Texas pitcher Cat Osterman, Tennessee's Monica Abbott, Virginia Tech's Angela Tincher and 2009 winner Washington pitcher/hitter Danielle Lawrie.

    The three finalists are UCLA's Megan Langenfeld, Washington's Danielle Lawrie and Georgia Tech's Jen Yee. The winner of the 2010 USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year will be named on Tue., June 1 at the Opening Ceremonies of the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City, Okla.

    Megan Langenfeld (Bakersfield, Calif.) enters Super Regional play leading the Bruins with a .500 batting average, 49 runs batted in, a 1.037 slugging percentage, 38 walks and a .650 on base percentage. She is also tied for first with 16 home runs and second with 40 runs scored. In the circle, Langenfeld is 10-1 with three saves, a 1.29 earned run average and 56 strikeouts in 87 innings. The senior was named Pac-10 and USA Softball National Player of the Week on April 27 after recording four homers and eight RBI in a three-game sweep at Stanford. Langenfeld has 18 multiple-hit games and 14 multiple-RBI contests on the season. The senior came into the postseason ranked in the Top 20 nationally in six offensive categories. In the circle, Langenfeld was a perfect 6-0 in Pac-10 play with two saves, posting a 1.43 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 44 innings. Among her victories were a pair of wins in the last weekend of the regular season at Arizona.

    The 2009 USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year Lawrie looks to repeat as Player of the Year, only the second student-athlete in the history of the award to do so. The senior from Langley, British Colombia is a First Team All-Pacific Region, First Team All-Pac-10 and Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year. She was named the Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week a record eight times this season and also earned USA Softball Player of the Week three times (a single-season record) and the NFCA National Player of the Week twice. Lawrie is 38-1 on the season with a 0.94 ERA, 446 strikeouts and just 34 walks in 269.1 innings. She also leads the Huskies in home runs (15), RBI (57) and slugging percentage (.627), all of which are career highs. Holds a nation-best 22 shutouts to break her own single-season school record.  Lawrie is 19-2 against ranked teams this year with 234 Ks in 143.1 innings. She has thrown three perfect games on the season.

    Jen Yee (North Delta, British Colombia) makes her first appearance in the Top 3 after being named the 2010 ACC Player of the Year. The senior from Georgia Tech was a First-Team NFCA All-Southeast Region and First-Team All-ACC. She reached base safely at least once in all 62 games this season and leads the nation in batting average (.568), slugging percentage (1.270), on-base percentage (.732), runs scored (93) and walks (88). She is also tied for the lead nationally with 29 home runs. Yee struck out just six times all season and was 21-for-22 in stolen base attempts, good for fourth in the ACC. Her 84 hits and 63 RBI led the league while her 15 doubles ranked third. She was a two-time Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Player of the Week and five-time ACC Player of the Week. Yee was intentionally walked 31 times this year which is an NCAA single-season record.

    Alyssa Chambers is an Assistant Director for Fresno State Athletics Communications.  She can be reached at achambers@csufresno.edu.

    Categories:

    No TrackBacks

    TrackBack URL: http://cstv.collegesports.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/5801

    Leave a comment




    RSS Feed

    Blog Home

    MOST RECENT POSTS

    CATEGORIES

    ARCHIVE