PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The American Athletic Conference announced its annual softball awards on Wednesday, which were voted on by the league's seven head coaches.
Tulsa collected two of the four major accolades as Emily Watson garnered American Pitcher of the Year honors and the Hurricane coaching staff was voted Coaching Staff of the Year. Shelby Miller of Houston and Memphis’ Lindsay Crowdus were tabbed American Players of the Year. Houston claimed an additional award with freshman Arielle James being named American Rookie of the Year.
Miller leads the league in runs scored (19) and ranks third in hits with 19 in conference play. The senior was named The American’s Player of the Week on May 1
st and was named to the Weekly Honor Roll on two occasions (Feb.13th and March 13
th). She also leads the league in total bases (34) and on-base percentage (.486) in conference games.
Crowdus produced a .383 batting average, a .424 on-base percentage, and is tied for fifth in hits (23) in league play. The senior went a perfect 4-for-4 in game three (7-for-11 for the weekend) against UCF on April 9
th and has six multi-hit games in conference play. Crowdus has a career-high 81 hits and has stolen a program record 32 bases this season and is a USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Finalist.
Watson leads The American and ranks fourth in the nation with 25 wins, including a perfect 9-0 mark in conference play. The junior ranks third in the nation for strikeouts (307), sixth in victories (26), and second in shutouts (12). Watson was named The American’s Pitcher of the Week a league-record eight times and was also named Louisville Slugger/NFCA Co-Pitcher of the Week on March 20. She held conference opponents to a .160 batting average with a 1.00 ERA and 119 strikeouts in league play this season.
Tulsa was voted The American’s Coaching Staff of the Year after winning the league's regular-season title with 15 victories in conference play. The Golden Hurricane led the conference with a 1.18 earned run average against American opponents this season. The team was ranked in the Top 25 of both the USA Today/NFCA Division I Poll and the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 on May 2
nd.Tulsa received votes in both polls for seven weeks and currently sits at No. 24 on the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25.
James produced .385 average including eight RBI’s in conference play. The rookie is ranked second in the conference with 15 runs and sixth in the doubles category with four. James led the Cougars with seven multi-hit games and three multi-RBI games during league play.
The all-conference first and second teams consist of 24 student-athletes from all seven teams. UCF's Kyra Klarkowski, USF's Kristen Wyckoff, Tulsa's Maggie Withee and Emily Watson were unanimous first-team selections. The Cougars placed four players on the first team to lead the league. Additionally UCF’s Alea White was unanimously named to the eight-player All-Rookie Team.
2017 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE SOFTBALL AWARD WINNERS
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Shelby Miller, Houston
Lindsay Crowdus, Memphis
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Emily Watson, Tulsa*
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Arielle James, Houston
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE COACHING STAFF OF THE YEAR
Tulsa*
ALL-CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM
P – Cheyenne Eggens, USF
P – Emily Watson, Tulsa*
C – Cassady Brewer, UCF
1B – Shelby Miller, Houston
2B – Arielle James, Houston
3B – Maggie Withee, Tulsa*
SS – Kyler Trosclair, Memphis
OF – Maya Thomas, Houston
OF – Lindsay Crowdus, Memphis
OF – Kristen Wyckoff, USF*
DP/UTL (Pitcher) – Savannah Heebner, Houston
DP/UTL (Non-Pitcher) – Kyra Klarkowski, UCF*
ALL-CONFERENCE SECOND TEAM
P – Alea White, UCF
P – Lydia Ritchie, East Carolina
C – Regan Hadley, Memphis
IF – Courtney Rotton, UCF
IF –Brittany Solis, UCF
IF – Carli Cutler, UConn
IF –Lauren Evans, USF
OF – Linnea Goodman, UCF
OF – Willow Kalinen, UCF
OF - Astin Donovan, USF
DP/UTL (Pitcher) – Haley Meinen, Tulsa
DP/UTL (Non-Pitcher) – N/A
ALL-ROOKIE TEAM
Jazmine Esparza, UCF
Kyra Klarkowski, UCF
Alea White, UCF*
Carli Cutler, UConn
Arielle James, Houston
Trystan Melancon, Houston
Erin Parker, Memphis
Bethaney Keen, USF
[*] Denotes unanimous selection
Ties are not broken