OKLAHOMA CITY — After leading the Florida State Seminoles at the plate during the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational, senior outfielder Zoe Casas (Rialto, Calif.) has earned Week 2 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Week. Announced today by USA Softball, Casas helped guide the Seminoles to a perfect 6-0 record in Clearwater resulting in the team jumping to the No. 1 spot in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll.
“This weekend was huge for us as a program, but we didn’t let the weekend get bigger than ourselves,” said Casas. “We went out there and attacked pitch by pitch and made adjustments when we needed to. We grew a lot as team, and to watch younger players step up in big moments was absolutely amazing! Being where our feet are is a big part of us being present in every pitch and it allowed us to have big opportunities defensively and offensively all weekend long.”
Casas opened the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational with a pair of 1-for-3 outings at the plate against then-No. 23 Ohio State and then-No. 3 Oklahoma. Casas’ hit streak continued in their second day of competition as she helped guide her squad to their third win over a ranked opponent as she went 1-for-2 against No. 7 LSU. Casas closed out the day by going a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with a home run, two RBI and three runs scored in a win over Minnesota.
At the final day of the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational, Casas continued her hot-hitting ways with another multi-hit performance against Florida Atlantic, including her second home run of the tournament. She finished the tournament with a single and RBI in a win over then-No. 6 Tennessee.
“This coaching staff couldn't be more proud of Zoe, as she has grown tremendously, both on and off the field, during her four years at Florida State,” said Florida State Head Coach, Lonni Alameda. “She represents our program so well because she is one of the hardest working players that has bought into the program and the system. She's an amazing team player and leader of our family.”
For the week, Casas hit .556 (10-for-18) with seven runs scored, six RBI, two home runs and a .944 slugging percentage. This marks the first USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Week honor for Casas and the first for an athlete from Florida State since Week 9 of the 2018 season when teammate Sydney Sherrill earned the honor.
2019 USA Softball National Collegiate Players of the Week
Week 1 (Feb. 7-10): Kassidy Wilbur – Stephen F. Austin – Freshman – Pitcher – Bridge City, Texas
Week 2 (Feb. 11-17): Zoe Casas – Florida State – Senior – Outfield – Rialto, Calif.
About USA Softball
USA Softball is a 501(c)(3) not-for profit organization headquartered in Oklahoma City, Okla., and is designated as the National Governing Body (NGB) of Softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. One of the nation’s largest sports organizations, USA Softball sanctions competition through a network of Local Associations, which includes all 50 states and select metro associations, and has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 120,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than 2 million. USA Softball is dedicated to providing people of all ages the opportunity to play the game they love at a variety of levels by offering recreational, league, tournament and competitive play for fast pitch, slow pitch and modified pitch. USA Softball annually conducts thousands of tournaments throughout the country including over 100 National Championships. The USA Softball umpire program is among the nation’s largest and are widely known as the best trained umpires in the game.
As the NGB for the sport of softball, USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting the six USA Softball National Teams that compete in events such as the Olympics, Pan American Games, World Championships and other international and domestic events. For more information on USA Softball, including its founding and history as the Amateur Softball Association of America (ASA), please visit, www.USASoftball.com.
About the NCAA Women’s College World Series:
USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium – OGE Energy Field serves as the home to the NCAA Women’s College World Series (WCWS). For the 29th year, the top eight college teams in the nation will head to Oklahoma City and compete for a national championship. Last year, over 70,000 fans attended the WCWS. Be there with softball fans from across the country May 30-June 4/5 in Oklahoma City. Tickets for the 2019 NCAA WCWS are on sale now, click here to purchase your tickets and secure your championship experience!