.png&width=48&height=48&type=webp)
Houston Garners Five All-Conference Honors
5/8/2019 1:32:00 PM | Softball
Barker named Player of the Year
HOUSTON – Posting the most regular-season wins since 2013, the University of Houston Softball team landed five student-athletes on the All-American Athletic Conference list, including Player of the Year Sarah Barker, the league announced Wednesday.
Voted on by the league's coaches, the senior outfielder was joined by senior outfielder Maya Thomas, senior utility/pitcher Savannah Heebner and junior infielder Arielle James, on the First Team. Heebner earned the fourth First Team selection of her career, becoming the first player in program history to accomplish the feat.
Senior pitcher Presley Bell rounded out the list of Cougars who received All-Conference accolades with her appearance on the Second Team.
With Barker being named the 2019 Player of the Year, head coach Kristin Vesely has now mentored four major award winners in her three years at the helm of the program. In 2017, Shelby Miller was named the Co-Player of the Year, and James earned Rookie of the Year status, while Heebner received 2018 Co-Pitcher of the Year honors.
Houston tied Wichita State with four First-Team honorees, the most amongst all other teams. The four selections also ties a program for most First Team selections, set in 2017.
BARKER'S 2019 CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN
ON DECK
Houston opens postseason play with The American Championship being held May 9-11 at Cougar Softball Stadium. The Cougars, who enter as the No. 3 seed, will face No. 6 UConn on Thursday and that game will begin 37 minutes following the conclusion of Game 3.
For more information and to purchase tickets to The American Championships, click here.
THE AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP
Fans who wish to purchase tickets to The American Softball Championship can do so now for as low as $5 by clicking here.
STAY CONNECTED
Follow Houston Softball on Twitter and Instagram at UHCougarSB, and "Like" UHCougarSB on Facebook.
JOIN DIAMOND CLUB
Fans can help support the Houston Softball program by joining the Diamond Club. To find out more information about the Diamond Club, visit UHCougars.com or call Cougar Pride at (713) 743-GoUH. For more information, Click Here.
– UHCougars.com –
Voted on by the league's coaches, the senior outfielder was joined by senior outfielder Maya Thomas, senior utility/pitcher Savannah Heebner and junior infielder Arielle James, on the First Team. Heebner earned the fourth First Team selection of her career, becoming the first player in program history to accomplish the feat.
Senior pitcher Presley Bell rounded out the list of Cougars who received All-Conference accolades with her appearance on the Second Team.
With Barker being named the 2019 Player of the Year, head coach Kristin Vesely has now mentored four major award winners in her three years at the helm of the program. In 2017, Shelby Miller was named the Co-Player of the Year, and James earned Rookie of the Year status, while Heebner received 2018 Co-Pitcher of the Year honors.
Houston tied Wichita State with four First-Team honorees, the most amongst all other teams. The four selections also ties a program for most First Team selections, set in 2017.
- Ranked second in the conference with her .418 batting average.
- Tied for the team lead with her seven multiple-hit games, posting a team-high three 3-hit outings.
- Also tied for the team lead with 11 runs batted in, recording a team-best two 3-RBI performances.
- Recorded 23 hits against conference opposition, which tied for fourth in the conference.
- Boasted a .600 slugging percentage, which led the Cougars and ranked in fifth in The American.
- Touched 33 bases, which ranked sixth in the conference.
- One of 14 players in the conference to hold a perfect fielding percentage. She led the team's outfielders with 31 putouts on the year.
- Legged out a pair of triples, tied for most in the conference.
- Stole six bases, tied for second in The American, and tied for most sacrifice at-bats with five.
- Began conference play batting .571 (4-for-7) and guided the Cougars to a series win over Wichita State. She drove in five runs, smashing a home run and tallied a triple in the series.
- Finished the season with a hit in six of her last eight games, batting .480 during that stretch.
- Named to The American Weekly Honor Roll twice during conference play (3/25, 4/8).
- Earned the first All-Conference honor of her career with her Player of the Year accolade and First Team naming.
- Led the conference with a .536 batting average.
- Tallied more hits (30) than any other player during league play.
- Stole nine bases against conference foes, which tied for most in The American.
- Held a .559 on-base percentage against conference opposition that was second-best in The American.
- Tied for the team lead with seven multiple-hit performances, which included a pair of three-hit outings and two four-hit showings.
- Finished the year with an 11-game hitting streak against conferences foes, boasting a blistering .727 average in that span.
- Received three American Weekly Honor Roll accolades during conference play (4/15, 4/22, 5/8), all coming in the last four weeks of the season.
- Posted a career-high four hits on two separate occasions. The first came against Memphis (4/20), while the second came at UCF (4/28).
- Swiped three bags against UConn (4/12), which tied the most in her career.
- Earned the fourth All-Conference selection of her career, garnering her second First-Team All-Conference accolade.
- Earned the fourth First-Team All-Conference accolade of her career, becoming the first player in program history to accomplish the feat.
- Recorded one of the top ERAs in the conference, ranking fifth with her 1.82 mark.
- Held opposing hitters to a .205 batting average, a mark that ties for fifth in the conference.
- Finished the year winning her last five decisions, allowing just four earned runs in her final 34.0 innings.
- Led the team with 35 strikeouts against conference opponents.
- Tied for second in the conference with six doubles
- Put together two outings (4/5, 4/26), where she didn't allow an earned run.
- Posted a complete-game shutout in the series-opening win at UCF (4/26). She also batted .444 (4-for-9) in that series.
- Named to the American Weekly Honor Roll (4/29) after helping lead the Cougars to a road series win over UCF.
- Tied for the team lead with four two-hit performances against conference foes.
- Scored 12 runs, which tied for the most runs scored on the Cougars against league opposition.
- Boasted a .368 batting average and a .526 slugging percentage to go along with a .441 on-base percentage.
- Began conference play recording a double in each of her first three outings.
- Finished league play with a pair of sacrifice flies, which tied for the conference lead.
- Earned conference Player of the Week (4/29) for the second time in her career, after helping lead the Cougars to a series win over UCF (4/26-28), tying a career-high three hits in the series-clinching win. She also posted a season-high five assists in the series-opening victory.
- Received the third All-Conference accolade of her career, earning First-Team All-Conference honors for the second time.
- Led the Cougars with nine appearances, earning the team's lone save on the year.
- Tied for the team lead with five wins against conference foes.
- Ranked fifth in The American with her 13 batters struck out looking.
- Held a top 10 ERA with her 2.13 mark that ranked ninth in the conference.
- Earned the first All-Conference accolade of her career with her Second-Team All-Conference selection.
Houston opens postseason play with The American Championship being held May 9-11 at Cougar Softball Stadium. The Cougars, who enter as the No. 3 seed, will face No. 6 UConn on Thursday and that game will begin 37 minutes following the conclusion of Game 3.
For more information and to purchase tickets to The American Championships, click here.
Fans who wish to purchase tickets to The American Softball Championship can do so now for as low as $5 by clicking here.
Follow Houston Softball on Twitter and Instagram at UHCougarSB, and "Like" UHCougarSB on Facebook.
Fans can help support the Houston Softball program by joining the Diamond Club. To find out more information about the Diamond Club, visit UHCougars.com or call Cougar Pride at (713) 743-GoUH. For more information, Click Here.
– UHCougars.com –
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
RHP/1B
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
P/UTL
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballHIGHLIGHTS: Houston 5, Utah 2
Sunday, March 30
HIGHLIGHTS: Houston 10, McNeese 6
Wednesday, March 26
HIGHLIGHTS: Houston 10, Lamar 6
Wednesday, March 19
Cinematic Recap vs. Iowa State
Tuesday, March 11