Courtesy of Central Florida Athletics
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – With wins over South Carolina, No. 18 Missouri and No. 13 Minnesota, UCF junior Shelby Turnier collected National Pitcher of the Week honors by Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
Turnier became the first Knight in program history to earn National Pitcher of the Week status. She joined Stephanie Best as the only two Knights who picked up national weekly honors, as Best was the NFCA National Hitter of the Week on March 19, 2003.
The announcement came on the same day UCF learned it was ranked No. 19 in the USA Today/NFCA and the ESPN.com/USA Softball polls, marking the Knights’ first national ranking in school history.
On Monday, the Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., native was named the American Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week. It was the third conference weekly accolade of her career.
Turnier opened her week with an 11-strikeout performance in a 4-1 win at South Carolina Feb. 11. She allowed one run on five hits in the complete-game win. Three days later at the National Collegiate Softball Invitational in Clermont, Turnier handed Missouri a 1-0 shutout, going the full seven innings with only one hit and one walk against along with striking out nine.
Wrapping up her impressive week, Turnier shut out another ranked team in Minnesota on Feb. 15, striking out a season-high 12 in the process. In her seven innings in the circle, she permitted just four hits and two walks.
In all, Turnier was 3-0 with a 0.33 earned-run average and 32 strikeouts in 21 innings vs. two SEC opponents and one from the Big Ten.
Dating back to its inaugural season in 2002, UCF is off to its best start with an 8-0 record. Turnier owns a 5-0 record with a 0.22 ERA and 50 strikeouts in 32.0 innings. Combined with senior Mackenzie Audas and junior Jamie Ujvari, the Knights pitching staff has a collective 0.13 ERA, surrendering just one earned run in 55.0 innings this season.
UCF softball, which is presented by City Kia, left on Tuesday for the Bank of Hawaii Invitational Feb. 20-22 in Honolulu. The Knights open against their third ranked opponent in the last four games, taking on No. 16 Washington Friday at 8:30 p.m. ET.
