Ducks Dish Out Awards at Softball Banquet
EUGENE ? The University of Oregon softball team capped its regular season Saturday night by recognizing various student-athletes at its annual awards banquet.
Among the various athletic and academic honors distributed, five team awards were announced ? Top Offensive Player (Neena Bryant), Top Pitcher (Alicia Cook), Top Defensive Player (Lovena Chaput), Most Inspirational Player (Hannah Barril) and Most Outstanding Player (Bryant)
Brief season wrap-ups on each player follow:
Alicia Cook, Sr., P, Elmira, Ore. ? One of UO’s greatest pitchers helped UO make its case for the postseason Saturday with her 3-0 shutout of No. 24 Washington in the regular season finale. Her fifth shutout of the season raised her overall record to a team-best 16-12, and marked the fourth different opponent she’s topped in the nation’s top softball league, the Pac-10. She also enjoyed another 1-0 shutout of then-No. 6 Oklahoma in February ? her fifth of the season over a top-25 foe. Her four strikeouts Saturday gave her a team-high 150 this year ? seventh all-time in a season. Her other impressive Duck career rankings follow ? Games (#6, 119), Wins (#4, 55), Complete Games (7th, 57); Shutouts (#4, 20); Innings (#7, 561.1), Strikeouts (#4, 426) and ERA (#10, 2.32).
Neena Bryant, So., CF, Placentia, Calif. ? One of the Pac-10’s top hitters, she paced UO this season in batting average (.337), hits (62), slugging (.554), home runs (10), RBIs (45) and total bases (102), and also ranked top three on the team in on-base percentage (second, .361), doubles (second, 10) and stolen bases (third, 22). Coming into this week, she ranked top 10 in four Pac-10 offensive categories - stolen bases (4th, 21), hits (7th, 59), RBIs (7th, 42) and total bases (9th, 96). Her 45th RBI of the campaign ties her for seventh all-time in a season for UO, and her career RBIs are only one shy of 10th all-time for the Ducks.
Hannah Barril, So., INF, Juneau, Alaska ? The team’s most called-upon pinch runner in ’08 was also one of the its most enthusiastic, hard-working and supportive players. She played in a career-high 48 games this year and started three at second base, including wins over Portland State and Southern Utah. She also made her first conference game start last weekend vs. then-No. 22 California. She stole five bases this season ? fourth-most on the team ? and had a 1.000 fielding percentage for her 18 chances in the field.
Lovena Chaput, Sr., SS, Tualatin, Ore. ? Duck teammates lauded Chaput’s team-first attitude her final collegiate season to switch from left field to the vacant shortstop position ? a placed she had played in years prior in club and in high school. At the plate, her contributions were again equally important, and she capped ’08 ranked top 10 career-wise for UO in doubles (third, 36), triples (seventh, 7), home runs (eighth, 22) and RBIs (10th, 93). Earlier this weekend, she drove her sixth home run of the season over the right field scoreboard against No. 3 UCLA ? third-most on the team overall this year. She also stood top five on the team in on-base pct. (third, .358), RBIs (third, 26), doubles (third, 8), total bases (third, 74), walks (third, 24), batting average (fourth, .277), hits (fourth, 46) and sacrifice bunts (first, 9).
Looking ahead to Sunday evening, the Ducks await to hear their postseason fate on the NCAA Tournament selection show, televised by ESPN-U at 7 p.m. Sunday night West Coast Time.
Among other televised Duck softball goings-on, fans can catch a two-hour rebroadcast of Saturday’s 3-0 win over Washington on Fox Sports Northwest at 2 a.m. Sunday morning, and again on Monday at 1 p.m.
- www.GoDucks.com -
Among the various athletic and academic honors distributed, five team awards were announced ? Top Offensive Player (Neena Bryant), Top Pitcher (Alicia Cook), Top Defensive Player (Lovena Chaput), Most Inspirational Player (Hannah Barril) and Most Outstanding Player (Bryant)
Brief season wrap-ups on each player follow:
Alicia Cook, Sr., P, Elmira, Ore. ? One of UO’s greatest pitchers helped UO make its case for the postseason Saturday with her 3-0 shutout of No. 24 Washington in the regular season finale. Her fifth shutout of the season raised her overall record to a team-best 16-12, and marked the fourth different opponent she’s topped in the nation’s top softball league, the Pac-10. She also enjoyed another 1-0 shutout of then-No. 6 Oklahoma in February ? her fifth of the season over a top-25 foe. Her four strikeouts Saturday gave her a team-high 150 this year ? seventh all-time in a season. Her other impressive Duck career rankings follow ? Games (#6, 119), Wins (#4, 55), Complete Games (7th, 57); Shutouts (#4, 20); Innings (#7, 561.1), Strikeouts (#4, 426) and ERA (#10, 2.32).
Neena Bryant, So., CF, Placentia, Calif. ? One of the Pac-10’s top hitters, she paced UO this season in batting average (.337), hits (62), slugging (.554), home runs (10), RBIs (45) and total bases (102), and also ranked top three on the team in on-base percentage (second, .361), doubles (second, 10) and stolen bases (third, 22). Coming into this week, she ranked top 10 in four Pac-10 offensive categories - stolen bases (4th, 21), hits (7th, 59), RBIs (7th, 42) and total bases (9th, 96). Her 45th RBI of the campaign ties her for seventh all-time in a season for UO, and her career RBIs are only one shy of 10th all-time for the Ducks.
Hannah Barril, So., INF, Juneau, Alaska ? The team’s most called-upon pinch runner in ’08 was also one of the its most enthusiastic, hard-working and supportive players. She played in a career-high 48 games this year and started three at second base, including wins over Portland State and Southern Utah. She also made her first conference game start last weekend vs. then-No. 22 California. She stole five bases this season ? fourth-most on the team ? and had a 1.000 fielding percentage for her 18 chances in the field.
Lovena Chaput, Sr., SS, Tualatin, Ore. ? Duck teammates lauded Chaput’s team-first attitude her final collegiate season to switch from left field to the vacant shortstop position ? a placed she had played in years prior in club and in high school. At the plate, her contributions were again equally important, and she capped ’08 ranked top 10 career-wise for UO in doubles (third, 36), triples (seventh, 7), home runs (eighth, 22) and RBIs (10th, 93). Earlier this weekend, she drove her sixth home run of the season over the right field scoreboard against No. 3 UCLA ? third-most on the team overall this year. She also stood top five on the team in on-base pct. (third, .358), RBIs (third, 26), doubles (third, 8), total bases (third, 74), walks (third, 24), batting average (fourth, .277), hits (fourth, 46) and sacrifice bunts (first, 9).
Looking ahead to Sunday evening, the Ducks await to hear their postseason fate on the NCAA Tournament selection show, televised by ESPN-U at 7 p.m. Sunday night West Coast Time.
Among other televised Duck softball goings-on, fans can catch a two-hour rebroadcast of Saturday’s 3-0 win over Washington on Fox Sports Northwest at 2 a.m. Sunday morning, and again on Monday at 1 p.m.
- www.GoDucks.com -
