James Named National Player of the Week

<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Oklahoma City, Okla. - Senior right-hander Peaches James was named the USA Softball National Player of the Week for the second time this season after posting a 4-0 record in leading Nebraska to the Big 12 Tournament championship last week.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

“It’s surprising,” James said of the award. “It’s a great honor. I would like to thank my teammates and especially my catcher [senior Brittney Yolo]. I couldn’t do it without them.”

 

James was dominant in the circle, allowing only one earned run in 26 innings in the Big 12 Tournament. She threw every inning of the tournament, holding opposing hitters to a meager .081 batting average en route to posting a miniscule 0.27 ERA. In four games, the Papillion-LaVista graduate allowed only seven hits and surrendered only one walk.

 

Although all of her numbers from last week were impressive, one number stood out. James struck out 45 hitters, an average of just over 12 strikeouts per seven innings. She struck out 13 in the Huskers’ first-round victory over Texas, and struck out a season-high 16 Missouri Tigers in Nebraska’s 1-0 championship-game win.

 

Against Texas last Wednesday, James became the all-time career strikeout leader at Nebraska. Her sixth strikeout of the game gave her 859 for her career, passing Leigh Ann Walker for first place on the all-time chart. Walker struck out 858 batters from 1999-2002. The first pitcher in school history to record 300 strikeouts in a season, James is now just two punch-outs away from becoming the first pitcher in school history to rack up 900 strikeouts in a career.

 

Offensively, James hit .333 (4-for-12) at the tournament with three runs scored and two RBIs. She scored the only run in the Huskers' 1-0 victory over Missouri in the championship game.

   

For the season, James (34-7) is holding opposing hitters to a .140 average and has allowed only 28 earned runs in 264.1 innings (0.74 ERA). James also boasts an incredible strikeout-to-walk ratio of more than 5-to-1 (347 strikeouts, 62 walks).

 

James has had an illustrious career at NU. She is the school record-holder in career shutouts (43), career strikeouts (898), single-season shutouts (17) and single-season strikeouts (347). The Big 12 Player of the Year, James earned Big 12 Tournament MVP honors for her effort at the Big 12 Tournament.

 

“It’s a great honor for a great person,” NU Head Coach Rhonda Revelle said. “Peaches had a terrific tournament and this is a testament to the hard work she has put in this year.”

 

James and the rest of the 14th-ranked Huskers open NCAA Regional play on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. against the Lehigh Mountain Hawks at Bowlin Stadium. Tickets can be purchased online at Huskers.com, or by calling the Nebraska Ticket Office at 1-800-8-BIGRED.