Peaches James Season 2004

Honors and Awards

2004

• Second-Team NFCA All-American
• First-Team All-Midwest Region
• Finalist for USA Softball Player of the Year
• USA Softball Player of the Year Watch List
• Big 12 Player of the Year
• Big 12 Tournament MVP
• First-Team All-Big 12
• NCAA Tournament All-Region Team
• Two-Time USA Softball National Player of the Week
• NFCA National Player of the Week (April 6)
• Four-Time Big 12 Pitcher of the Week
• Big 12 Player of the Week (March 30)
• First-Team Academic All-Big 12
• Florida State Invitational All-Tournament Team
• Nebraska MVP

2003

• First-Team All-Midwest Region Team
• First-Team All-Big 12
• Second-Team Academic All-Big 12
• All-Big 12 Tournament Team
• USA Softball Player of the Year Watch List
• NFCA Leadoff Classic All-Tournament Team
• Seminole Invitational All-Tournament Team
• Nebraska Co-MVP

2002

• NFCA Second-Team All-Midwest Region
• NCAA Tournament All-Region Team
• First-Team All-Big 12
• USA Softball Collegiate Player-of-the-Year Finalist
• NFCA National Player of the Week, 2/27
• NFCA Leadoff Classic MVP
• All-Big 12 Tournament Team
• Big 12 Pitcher of the Week, 2/26
• Florida State Invitational All-Tournament Team
• Invited to train at ARCO Olympic Training Center
• Nebraska Co-MVP

2001

• Nebraska Co-MVP
• NCAA Tournament All-Region Team
• First-Team All-Big 12
• Big 12 Pitcher of the Week, 3/8

2004: Senior Season & Career Capsule
Perhaps the most decorated pitcher in school history, Peaches James finished her Husker career by earning second-team NFCA All-America honors in 2004. In her senior season, James finished with a 37-9 record and a 0.70 ERA. She set single-season Nebraska records with 394 strikeouts and 18 shutouts and held opposing batters to a meager .137 average.

James was named the Big 12 Most Valuable Player and earned Big 12 Tournament MVP honors. In the Big 12 Tournament, James was dominant, throwing the second perfect game in school history against 19th-ranked Oklahoma.

For her career, James is the Nebraska all-time strikeout (945) and shutouts (44) leader and ranks in the top 10 in every pitching category, including ranking second with 98 victories. In the fall of 2010, James became the fourth Husker to have her jersey retired.

2003: Junior Season
James was named first-team All-Midwest Region, first-team All-Big 12, second-team academic All-Big 12 and earned All-Big 12 Tournament honors ... compiled a 23-13 record with a 1.55 ERA in 243.2 innings pitched, and had six victories against top-25 teams, including then-No. 3 California and No. 7 Cal State Fullerton (twice) ... recorded a milestone 250 strikeouts, which ranks third all-time on the NU single-season charts and is 80 more than her previous single-season best of 170 ... tied or bettered her single-game career strikeout mark three times in her last 18 appearances, including 17 Ks against Oklahoma State May 2 at the Big 12 Tournament ... ranks on several Nebraska career charts, including complete games (5th, 61), saves (5th, 9), shutouts (5th, 25), strikeouts (4th, 551), ERA (8th, 1.42), innings pitched (4th, 619), winning percentage (7th, .678) and victories (4th, 61) ... recorded first no-hitter of her career against Kansas April 10, missing a perfect game by a hit-by-pitch ... produced a one-hitter against Iowa State April 23 ... went 7-1 in February with three shutouts against ranked teams ... held No. 12 Stanford scoreless on two hits and struck out nine Feb. 23 at the NFCA Leadoff Classic and was named to the all-tournament team ... produced a three-hit shutout against No. 7 Cal State Fullerton Feb. 9 ... struggled in March, when she gave up seven of the 12 home runs against her on the season and went 5-6 with a 2.02 ERA, but turned the corner in April, going 8-2 with a 0.77 ERA and four complete-game shutouts ... at the plate, was among the team leaders with a .364 average in February ... produced eight multiple-hit games ... tied a career high with three hits against Mississippi State Feb. 7 ... hit her first and only home run of the season at Missouri April 26 ... had three game-winning RBIs, against Notre Dame March 13, Creighton April 16 and Missouri April 26.

2002: Sophomore Season
James earned first-team All-Big 12 honors after finishing 2002 with a 22-9 record and a 1.33 ERA, allowing 43 earned runs in 227 innings pitched ... held opponents to a .188 batting average ... tossed nine complete-game shutouts, including back-to-back shutouts against top-five teams Stanford and Louisiana State ... was named the NFCA Division I National Player of the Week Feb. 27 on the strength of her performance at the NFCA Leadoff Classic, where she tossed 24.2 scoreless innings and picked up wins over No. 2 Stanford, No. 5 LSU, No. 17 Alabama and No. 22 Texas A&M ... was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 26, after giving up just six hits and yielding only three walks while holding the four teams to a .072 average at the NFCA Leadoff Classic ... ranked fourth in the Big 12 with nine shutouts ... also ranked third in the Big 12 in saves, complete games, innings pitched, appearances and games started ... was fourth in the league in wins and seventh in strikeouts (170) and opponent batting average (.182) ... gave up just 39 extra-base hits to the 815 batters she faced ... offensively, hit .280 with nine home runs and two triples ... hit .320 in conference games and led NU with a .520 slugging percentage against league teams ... hit .362 (21-for-58) with runners in scoring position and .400 (2-for-5) with the bases loaded ... tied for the team lead with eight game-winning RBIs, including two in extra innings ... produced an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to lead the Huskers to a 4-3 win over Missouri April 13 ... ripped a two-run homer in the top of the eighth to drive in the winning run at Texas Tech April 27 ... ripped a game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the fifth for a 3-2 win over then-No. 10 Cal State Fullerton Feb. 8 ... drove in two runs with an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth for a 3-2 win over Creighton March 19 ... was among the 50 players invited to participate in the USA Softball Women’s National Team Camp Sept. 26-29 at the ARCO Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif. ... earned Big 12 All-Tournament honors after going 2-0 and tossing a shutout in two complete-game starts.

2001 Freshman Season
The most decorated player in Nebraska high school softball history, James lived up to high expectations in 2001 ... compiled a 16-7 record, starting 19 games as a pitcher and going the distance in 12 ... posted a 1.37 ERA in 148.1 innings and led the Big 12 with a 6-0 record and a 0.67 ERA in league games ... produced four shutouts in Big 12 play and eight overall, including a four-hitter against No. 20 Oregon on Feb. 16 and a four-hitter against No. 22 Texas A&M April 21 ... tied for seventh in Nebraska history in single-season shutouts ... threw four consecutive complete-game shutouts and 26 straight scoreless innings to end the regular season in Nebraska wins against Texas, Texas A&M, Iowa State, Oklahoma State and Brigham Young ... earned Big 12 Pitcher-of-the-Week honors after allowing just four hits and two walks while striking out 17 in 14.0 innings of work against Kansas May 5 and Iowa State May 6...totaled seven or more strikeouts eight times and tallied a career-best 12 Ks April 14 against Oklahoma State ... led all Big 12 pitchers with a .166 opponent batting average in conference games ... ranked fifth on the league charts in strikeouts per game (7.67) ... started a team-high 38 games as the Huskers designated player ... hit for a .263 average in conference games and a .154 average on the season with two doubles and 13 runs scored ... smacked a game-winning RBI single to left field with two outs in the bottom of the seventh against BYU April 10 to give the Huskers a 4-3 win ... earned NCAA Tournament All-RegionTeam and first-team All-Big 12 honors ... selected by the coaching staff as the team co-MVP, along with Leigh Ann Walker.

High School
A four-year starter at Papillion-LaVista, James built one of the most impressive careers in Nebraska history ... earned first-team all-state honors three straight years after being named to the second team as a freshman in 1996 ... named honorary captain of the Lincoln Journal Star and Omaha World-Herald all-state teams in 1998 and 1999 ... was the Metro Conference Player of the Year in 1998 and 1999 and earned All-Metro team honors each of her four years ... set 10 Nebraska state softball records, including consecutive pitching wins (31), consecutive shutouts (19), consecutive shutout innings (162 1/3), consecutive innings with no earned runs allowed (257 2/3), lowest season ERA (0.04 in 1999), lowest career ERA (0.13), most no-hitters in a season (11), most perfect games in a season (five), most career perfect games (six) and consecutive perfect games (3) ... helped the Echoes Spirit to a second-place finish at the 2000 ASA nationals ... posted a .385 batting average with seven triples and 33 RBIs in 1999 ... a member of the honor roll ... was elected prom queen.

Sippel on James
"She is the most athletic pitcher to ever play here. With each passing year, Peaches has revealed more and more of her competitiveness and character, and I expect this year to be no different. This team's desire to have Peaches and the other seniors go out as champions will make this a season to remember."