Softball's Nelson Named Top Three Finalist for Player of the Year Award
Wednesday, May 20, 2009 | Softball
No. 1/1 University of Florida senior Stacey Nelson (Los Alamitos, Calif.) was named one of three finalists for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award presented by the Amateur Softball Association of America (ASA). The winner will be announced on May 26 at the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City, Okla.
Nelson continues to move up the NCAA record book, as she has tallied 131 wins in her career, seventh-best all time. She is second in Southeastern Conference history, only behind Tennessee's Monica Abbott (189). This season, her 37-3 (.925) record one of the best in the nation and her ERA (0.43) leads the country. She is second in the country with 19 shutouts. The right-hander leads the SEC in ERA, opposing batting average (.158), strikeouts (302), wins, fewest earned runs allowed (15), fewest home runs allowed (1)
Nelson is the first Gator to tally 1,000 career strikeouts and sits in sixth in the SEC with 1,061. She holds 19 single-season and career pitching records at Florida, including single-season shutouts (19, 2009) and career ERA (0.97). She has pitched two no-hitters in her career, both coming in her senior year against SEC opponents. In 2008, she recorded a career-high 16 strikeouts in a 10-inning contest against Long Beach State. This season, she tallied a season-high 14 Ks in the regional win over Texas A&M in just seven innings.
For two years in a row, Nelson has earned the SEC Pitcher of the Year award (2008, 09), first-team All-SEC accolades (2008, 09) and SEC All-Defensive team honors (2008, 09). She was named Pitcher of the Week three times, tying for the most this season. Last season, Nelson made the top-10 list for Player of the Year.
This award 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 and Virginia Tech's Angela Tincher.
The No. 1 seeded-Gators will face No. 14/16 California on May 23 and 24 in Super Regional action in Gainesville. The 8 p.m. game on Saturday will air on ESPN and the 6 p.m. game on Sunday (with a possible 8 p.m. game) will air on ESPN 2. All games will be streamed live on the web at espn360.com.
Other Two Finalists for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year
Kaitlin Cochran – Arizona State – Senior – Yorba Linda, Calif.
Kaitlin Cochran thus far in this season and throughout her career has led the nation in nearly every offensive category at one point in the season. The Pac-10 Player of Year still holds the nation's leading on-base percentage and ranks top 10 in batting average, slugging percentage, home runs, home runs per game and is ranked in RBI per game. She has broken every ASU offensive career and single-season record and now continues to climb up the Pac-10 and NCAA record books in hits, doubles, home runs, slugging percentage, on base percentage, walks and intentional walks. Cochran is hitting .424 on the season with 65 runs scored. She has drawn an incredible 59 walks with 59 RBI. In Pac-10 play, she has still hit an impressive .404 with 17 RBI and a slugging percentage of 0.915. Cochran earned the Pac-10 Player of the Week on March 31 as well as earned first-time honors.
Danielle Lawrie – Washington – Junior– Langley, British Columbia
The Pac-10 leader in wins, ERA, strikeouts and shutouts, Lawrie is also among the nation's top three in all four categories. She has thrown two no-hitters this season, against UCLA and Arizona to become the first pitcher in NCAA history to no-hit both in a career, let alone a season. She set a school record in the NCAA Regional Championship deciding game against No. 20 UMass, striking out 24 batters in a 6-1, 15-inning win. She is the third pitcher in Pac-10 history with 24+ strikeouts in a game. It was her 25th double-digit strikeout game of the season. She has also had two 18 strikeout games, one in seven innings against Oregon and another in 11 innings against Fresno State and has 18 shutouts, 12 of which have come against ranked teams. Among the team's she has shutout: No. 1 Florida, No. 2 UCLA, No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 Stanford, No. 6 Arizona, No. 7 Michigan, No. 8 Georgia and No. 11 Ohio State. Lawrie has 454 strikeouts this season, three shy of breaking her own school record. She has gone over the 1,000 career K mark and the 1,200 career K mark this season and now has 1,298, fifth in Pac-10 history and 15th in NCAA history along with four one-hitters and 10 two-hitters. She has won a Pac-10 record six Pitcher of the Week awards as well as been named the NFCA and USA Softball National Player of the Week. Lawrie had a streak of 64.1 consecutive scoreless innings earlier in the season and 90.0 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run. She broke UW's career strikeout record early in the season and also broke the single-season UW strikeout record. She also broke UW's single-season shutout record with 18. Her 35 wins are also one shy of the school record.
