Photo Courtesy of Alabama Athletics
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – A 2-0 weekend in Gainesville with one earned run over 14.0 innings has earned Alabama senior Jaclyn Traina national recognition, as she was named the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Week as well as the NFCA Co-National Player of the Week, announced Tuesday.
“It’s a tremendous honor to be named USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Week and NFCA Co-National 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.”
Traina, who was also named SEC Pitcher of the Week, went 2-0 over the weekend, throwing two complete-game victories against the previously top-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.”
Traina shares this week’s NFCA honor with Western Illinois junior Sammy Marshall, who went 11-11 the plate last weekend in a weekend series against IUPUI.
This is the first USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Week honor for Traina and the first for any Alabama player since Kelsi Dunne on May 18, 2010. Dunne was also the last NFCA National Player of the Week for Alabama, winning on April 6, 2009.
A Naples, Fla., native, Traina is now 3-1 this season against ranked teams and has allowed just three earned runs over 27.0 innings pitched. Overall, she owns an 11-2 record with a 1.84 ERA and 99 strikeouts.
