The yearly Big 12 softball awards released Wednesday, and five Cowgirls were honored.
Ruby Meylan shared Big 12 Pitcher of the Year honors with Texas Tech’s NiJaree Canaday. Meylan was also on the league’s First Team along with OSU third baseman Rosie Davis. Aubrey Jones and Jayelle Austin made the league’s All-Freshman team, while catcher Audrey Schneidmiller was included on the All-Defensive Team.
No one in the Big 12 has shouldered more of a workload than Meylan. Her 213 2/3 innings pitched leads the league by a full 69 innings. Even with that workload, Meylan’s 2.03 ERA is good for third in the league, while she has a Big 12 best 26 wins and ranks second with 201 strikeouts.
A junior, Davis is hitting .323 entering this weekend’s Big 12 Tournament. She has a team-best 53 hits, 11 doubles and 13 home runs. After playing second base in her first two years in Stillwater, Davis has made the transition to the hot corner and has a career-best fielding percentage of .968.
Jones is hitting .326 in her freshman season and has started every game the Cowgirls have played this year. Her 42 hits thus far ranks fifth on the team, trailing only upperclassmen, meanwhile her nine doubles are tied for second among Cowgirls.
Austin hit .257 in her freshman regular season. She’s got a knack for finding her way on base. Here .429 on-base percentage ties Karli Godwin for second on the team among Cowgirls who have at least two plate appearances in 75% of OSU’s games. Austin has drawn a team-high 30 walks. She’s also made more than a handful of highlight plays in center field.
There aren’t many stories better than that of Schneidmiller’s. A senior, Schneidmiller had ample opportunity to look for playing time elsewhere over the years but just kept showing up and putting the work in to the point it was hard for Kenny Gajewski to keep her off the field. She’s hitting .320 entering the Big 12 Tournament and has been a rock behind the plate for the Cowgirls. She has a perfect fielding percentage.
If you’re looking for slights, there was probably a strong argument for Tia Warsop and/or Claire Timm making a team. Warsop’s .349 batting average is tops among Cowgirls with at least 35 at-bats. She’s second among Cowgirls with 37 runs scored. Timm is right behind Warsop with a .348 batting average. Timm has 30 RBIs and 18 extra-base hits.
The Cowgirls open their Big 12 Tournament run with a game against Utah at 5 p.m. Thursday in Oklahoma City.
Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog.
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