OKLAHOMA CITY — A 2-0 week in the circle that included a pair of wins over then-No. 2 Florida and her first save of the season in a third game earned Alabama Senior Pitcher Jaclyn Traina (Naples, Fla.) USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Week honors for Week Seven the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America and USA Softball announced today. The pitching ace also helped her case from the plate going 4-for-9 for a .444 average on the week. With the wins, the Crimson Tide improved to 27-5 on the season and 8-1 in Southeastern Conference (SEC) play, good enough to jump three spots to No. 5 in this week’s ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll.
“It’s a tremendous honor to be named USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Week,” said Traina. “It’s a great award and I am just blessed to be part of this great program at Alabama. It’s an honor to receive this award but I never could have earned it without the help of my teammates.”
On Wednesday, with her team clinging to a three-run lead, Traina entered the game in the seventh and earned her first save of the season as Alabama defeated Georgia State 3-1.
Traina went 2-0 over the weekend, throwing two complete-game victories against the second-ranked Gators. On Friday, she allowed just two runs, one earned, and two hits as Alabama won 4-2. In Sunday’s rubber match, Traina pitched one of her finest performances of the season, throwing a complete-game shutout with just two hits allowed, both of which came in the first two innings. The two hits allowed in each game are a season low for Florida, who had lost just two games before this weekend.
“It’s a tremendous honor for Jaclyn,” said Head Coach Patrick Murphy. “It’s not easy to go into Gainesville in front of huge crowds all weekend and beat them twice on their own turf. I think Sunday may have been her best game of the year so far.”
This season, Traina holds an 11-2 record with a 1.84 ERA. She has allowed just 23 earned runs and has struck out 99 batters, averaging 1.13 K/IP and holding a 2.54 K/BB ratio. Against ranked teams, Traina is 3-1 with just three earned runs over 27.0 innings pitched.
This is the first USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Week honor for Traina and the first for an Alabama player since Kelsie Dunne earned the award in Week 14 of the 2010 season.
2014
USA Softball National Collegiate Players of the Week
Week 1 (Feb. 6-9): Kylee Lahners - Washington - Junior - Infielder– Laguna Hills,
Calif.
Week 2
(Feb. 10 -16): Aimee Creger - Tulsa - Senior - Pitcher– Yukon, Okla.
Week 3
(Feb. 17-23): Ally Carda – UCLA – Junior – Pitcher – Elk Grove, Calif.
Week 4
(Feb. 24 – March 2): Cheridan Hawkins – Oregon – Sophomore – Anderson, Calif.
Week 5
(March 3-9): Dallas Escobedo - Arizona State - Senior - Pitcher– Glendale,
Ariz.
Week 6
(March 10-16): Alex Hugo – Georgia – Sophomore – Infielder – Olathe, Kan.
Week 7 (March 17-23): Jaclyn Traina – Alabama – Senior – Pitcher – Naples, Fla.
About
ASA
The Amateur Softball Association, founded in 1933, is the National Governing
Body of softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic
Committee. The ASA has become one of the nation’s largest sports organizations
and now sanctions competition in every state through a network of 76 local
associations. The ASA has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to
over 165,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than 2.5 million.
For more information on the ASA, visit http://www.asasoftball.com/.
About USA
Softball
USA Softball is the brand created, operated and owned by the ASA that links the
USA Men’s, Women’s, Junior Boys’ and Junior Girls’ National Team programs
together. USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting
these four National Teams to compete in international and domestic
competitions. The USA Softball Women’s National Team is one of the only two
women’s sports involved in the Olympic movement to capture three consecutive
gold medals at the Olympic Games since 1996. The U.S. women have also won nine
World Championship titles including the last seven consecutive as well as
claimed six World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about USA
Softball, please visit http://www.usasoftball.com.
About the NCAA Women’s College World Series
The ASA Hall of Fame Stadium serves as the home to the NCAA Women’s College
World Series (WCWS). For the 24th year, the top eight college teams
in the nation will head to Oklahoma City and complete for a National
Championship title. Last year, over 70,000 fans attended the WCWS. Experience
It Live May 29 to June 4 in Oklahoma City. Tickets for the 2014 NCAA WCWS are
on sale now, click here to
purchase your tickets and make a date with champions!