12:33 pm | May 8, 2019 | Go to Source | Author:
Top-ranked Oklahoma collected every individual honor, as the 2019 All-Big 12 Softball Awards were announced on Wednesday. The honorees are selected by a vote of the league’s head coaches.
OU’s Sydney Romero was named Big 12 Player of the Year, Giselle Juarez earned Pitcher of the Year, while Caleigh Clifton produced Defensive Player of the Year status and Grace Green was recognized as Freshman of the Year. Patty Gasso was named Coach of the Year for the eighth consecutive season and 12th time overall. Romero, Juarez and Green were all unanimous selections. This is the first time that an institution has swept every individual award.
Romero leads the Big 12 in batting average (.431), home runs (17), RBIs (51) and total bases (144). Nationally, the senior infielder ranks among the top-20 in four statistical categories: total bases (No. 2, 144), slugging percentage (No. 13, .862), runs per game (No. 15, 1.1) and home runs (No. 19, 17).
Juarez went undefeated on the year with a 21-0 record, including a 9-0 record in conference play. The junior pitcher threw two perfect games, including one in Big 12 play, to become the first Conference pitcher since Paige Parker (OU) in 2015 to have multiple perfect games in a season. She also leads the league in wins (21) and opponent batting average (.144).
Clifton has helped the Sooners to a nation-leading .987 fielding percentage. The senior captain only made one error in all of conference play and assisted on a team-high nine double plays on the season, including a team-best three in conference games.
Green, a top-25 NFCA Freshman of the Year finalist, led the Big 12 in home runs (9), RBI (27), total bases (53) and slugging percentage (1.00) in conference play. On the year, the newcomer also leads all Big 12 freshmen in eight statistical categories.
Gasso led the Sooners to their eighth consecutive Big 12 regular season title and second consecutive undefeated conference season, making OU the only Big 12 program to go undefeated in back-to-back years. She also guided the team to a 48-2 regular season, good for the nation’s best record and OU’s best mark through 50 games in program history.
Twelve student-athletes make up the All-Big 12 First and Second Team while 10 selections are named to the All-Big 12 Freshman Team, regardless of position. In addition to Romero and Clifton earning unanimous All-Big 12 First Team distinction, Oklahoma State’s Samantha Show and Texas Tech’s Karli Hamilton also garnered the accolade.
The 2019 Phillips 66 Big 12 Softball Championship opens is a two-day event taking place May 10-11 at the USA Hall of Fame Stadium Complex in Oklahoma City. The top six teams will compete in a combination of pool play format (Friday) and bracket play (Saturday). The championship game is slated to begin at 4 p.m. CT Saturday, May 11 on FS2. All-Session tickets for the Championship have sold out. If available, a limited number of single-session tickets will be sold on-site.
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