Four Ducks Named to USA Softball Player of the Year Watch List
01/31/18 | Softball
EUGENE, Ore. - Oregon softball had four players named to the USA Softball national player of the year preseason watch list, the organization announced on Wednesday.
Oregon pitchers Maggie Balint and Megan Kleist plus outfielder Alexis Mack and transfer infielder DJ Sanders were all selected to the 50-player preseason watch list.
Balint was one of three finalists for the national freshman of the year award a season ago, when she ranked second in the Pac-12 with a 1.22 ERA. The righthander went 21-3 with 152 strikeouts in 126.0 innings pitched.
Kleist led the Ducks with 161 strikeouts and ranked third in the Pac-12 with a 1.32 ERA. The junior went 21-3 last season and led the league with nine shutouts.
Mack led the Pac-12 with 28 stolen bases last season and tied for the conference-lead with a .424 batting average. Mack hit .464 in the Ducks' nine postseason games last year, going a perfect 4-for-4 on stolen base attempts.
Sanders had a monster junior season at Louisiana last year, leading the NCAA with 29 home runs, 82 RBIs and a 1.013 slugging percentage. Sanders joined the Ducks in the winter and will be immediately eligible for the upcoming season.
Oklahoma has the most players on the preseason watch list with five while the Ducks and Arizona are tied for second with four.
Previous recipients of the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award, the most prestigious individual honor in NCAA Division I Softball, are UCLA catcher Stacey Nuveman (2002), Texas pitcher Cat Osterman (2003, 2005 and 2006), Florida State pitcher Jessica Van der Linden (2004), Tennessee pitcher Monica Abbott (2007), Virginia Tech pitcher Angela Tincher (2008), Washington pitcher Danielle Lawrie (2009 and 2010), Stanford shortstop Ashley Hansen (2011), Oklahoma's Keilani Ricketts (2012 and 2013), Florida State's Lacey Waldrop (2014), Florida's Lauren Haeger (2015), Michigan's Sierra Romero (2016) and Kelly Barnhill (2017).
In addition to bestowing the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award, USA Softball is now in its 16th season of presenting the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll and the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Week, which are announced Tuesdays during the regular season. The preseason ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll was released Jan. 30 with Oklahoma, Florida, Oregon, UCLA and Washington taking the Top 5 spots respectively.
Oregon pitchers Maggie Balint and Megan Kleist plus outfielder Alexis Mack and transfer infielder DJ Sanders were all selected to the 50-player preseason watch list.
Balint was one of three finalists for the national freshman of the year award a season ago, when she ranked second in the Pac-12 with a 1.22 ERA. The righthander went 21-3 with 152 strikeouts in 126.0 innings pitched.
Kleist led the Ducks with 161 strikeouts and ranked third in the Pac-12 with a 1.32 ERA. The junior went 21-3 last season and led the league with nine shutouts.
Mack led the Pac-12 with 28 stolen bases last season and tied for the conference-lead with a .424 batting average. Mack hit .464 in the Ducks' nine postseason games last year, going a perfect 4-for-4 on stolen base attempts.
Sanders had a monster junior season at Louisiana last year, leading the NCAA with 29 home runs, 82 RBIs and a 1.013 slugging percentage. Sanders joined the Ducks in the winter and will be immediately eligible for the upcoming season.
Oklahoma has the most players on the preseason watch list with five while the Ducks and Arizona are tied for second with four.
Previous recipients of the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award, the most prestigious individual honor in NCAA Division I Softball, are UCLA catcher Stacey Nuveman (2002), Texas pitcher Cat Osterman (2003, 2005 and 2006), Florida State pitcher Jessica Van der Linden (2004), Tennessee pitcher Monica Abbott (2007), Virginia Tech pitcher Angela Tincher (2008), Washington pitcher Danielle Lawrie (2009 and 2010), Stanford shortstop Ashley Hansen (2011), Oklahoma's Keilani Ricketts (2012 and 2013), Florida State's Lacey Waldrop (2014), Florida's Lauren Haeger (2015), Michigan's Sierra Romero (2016) and Kelly Barnhill (2017).
In addition to bestowing the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award, USA Softball is now in its 16th season of presenting the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll and the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Week, which are announced Tuesdays during the regular season. The preseason ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll was released Jan. 30 with Oklahoma, Florida, Oregon, UCLA and Washington taking the Top 5 spots respectively.
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