Softball's Nelson Named A Top 10 Finalist for National Player of the Year
Wednesday, May 7, 2008 | Softball
University of Florida junior pitcher Stacey Nelson (Los Alamitos, Calif.) has been named one of 10 finalists for USA Softball National Player of the Year. She is the first player in school history to be named to the top 10 list.
Nelson leads the Gators in the circle with a 38-2 record and a 0.81 ERA. She currently has the most wins in the NCAA. This season she has already beat her own school records for wins and strikeouts (288). She has set career records for wins, saves, shut outs and strikeouts. Both of Nelson's losses this season have been by only one run, with only one of those runs being earned. She has given up only 30 earned runs on the season and has only given up more than two runs five times on the year.
Earlier this season, Nelson recorded a school record 46.2 consecutive shutout innings from the first inning of the South Florida game until the Notre Dame game. She also Recorded another 44.2 consecutive scoreless innings from March 29 versus LSU to April 13 at Georgia. She threw 63 innings without giving up an earned run from the first game of the Longwood series until the final game of the Georgia series. Nelson recorded a career-high 16 strikeouts in the nine innings loss to Long Beach State and recorded three straight double digit strikeout performances to start the season in games against Florida Gulf Coast, Illinois and USF with eight total double digit strikeout games on the year.
Nelson and the Gators earned their first No. 1 national ranking in school history this week. They are set to begin Southeastern Conference Tournament play against Ole Miss at 2:30 p.m. ET on Thursday.
The Amateur Softball Association, the National Governing Body of Softball in the United States, announced today the top ten finalists for the 7th Annual USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award. An initial “Watch List” was released on January 30 and the list of 25 finalists was announced on April 9. The USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, in its seventh year, is designed to recognize outstanding athletic achievement by NCAA Division I collegiate softball players across the country.
The ten finalists for the 7th Annual USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award consist of five seniors, three juniors, one sophomore and one freshman. Six conferences are represented on the list.
Top Ten Finalists listed in alphabetical order, are:
Katie Burkhart (Arizona State) – Senior– Pitcher - San Luis Obispo, Calif.
Tonya Callahan (Tennessee) – Senior – Infield – Holden, Mo.
Kaitlin Cochran (Arizona State) – Junior - Outfielder - Yorba Linda, Calif.
Megan Gibson (Texas A&M) – Senior – Pitcher/First Base – Spring, Texas
Charlotte Morgan (Alabama) – Sophomore – Pitcher/Utility – Moreno Valley, Calif.
Stacey Nelson (Florida) – Junior – Pitcher – Los Alamitos, Calif.
Angel Shamblin (Houston) – Senior – Pitcher/Utility – Davie, Fla.
Jordan Taylor (Michigan) – Freshman – Pitcher – Valencia, Calif.
Angela Tincher (Virginia Tech) – Senior - Pitcher - Eagle Rock, Va.
Tammy Williams (Northwestern) – Junior – Infield – Roscoe, Mo.
On May 21 the list will be cut to three and those final three players will travel to Oklahoma City for the announcement of the winner of the 7th Annual USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year Award. The announcement will take place during the 'WCWS Party at the Park' on Tuesday, May 27 at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium.
A replica of the award will be placed in a permanent display in the ASA National Softball Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, along with photos of the winner. An additional replica of the award will be presented to the player's academic institution during an athletic event in the fall.
Tennessee's Monica Abbott took home the 2007 award before leading her team to the Women's College World Series best-of-three final series. Past winners of the award include Stacey Nuveman (UCLA-2002), Osterman (Texas-2003, 2005, 2006) and Jessica Van der Linden (Florida State-2004).
About ASA
The Amateur Softball Association, founded in 1933, is the National Governing Body of softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. The ASA has become one of the nation's largest sports organizations and now sanctions competition in every state through a network of 83 local associations. The ASA has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 240,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than three million. For more information on the ASA, visit http://www.asasoftball.com/.
About USA Softball
USA Softball is the brand created, operated and owned by the ASA that links the USA Men's, Women's, Junior Boys' and Junior Girls' National Team programs together. USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting these four National Teams to compete in international and domestic competitions. The USA Softball Women's National Team is one of the only two women's sports involved in the Olympic movement to capture three consecutive gold medals at the Olympic Games since 1996. The U.S. women have also won eight World Championship titles including the last six consecutive as well as claimed two World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about USA Softball, please visit http://www.usasoftball.com/.
