BEVO BEAT Softball
Following a Big 12 hat tip, Texas freshman Janae Jefferson remains in contention for national award
Posted May 10th, 2018
Texas second baseman Janae Jefferson can count herself among the top freshmen in the nation.
Jefferson is one of 10 finalists for the National Fastpitch Coaches Association’s Division I National Freshman of the Year award. The award, which will be presented on May 29, is in its fifth year of existence. Previous winners have been UCLA’s Rachel Garcia (2017), Florida’s Amanda Lorenz (2016), Oklahoma’s Paige Parker (2015) and Tennessee’s Annie Aldrete and Auburn’s Kasey Cooper (2014).
Jefferson has been UT’s leadoff hitter this entire season. She leads Texas with her .407 batting average and 27 runs scored, and her 23 RBIs rank second among the Longhorns. Jefferson opened her career with a school-best eight-game hitting streak. She didn’t strikeout until her 37th game.
T1 | WHAT GLOVE WORK BY JANAE!! @janaejefferson4 makes a tremendous diving stop to save a base hit! Two down, 0-0 vs. OSU pic.twitter.com/6QubUaXiva
— Texas Softball (@TexasSoftball) April 20, 2018
In the field, Jefferson has committed only two errors and boasts a .988 fielding percentage.
Jefferson was named to the first team of the Big 12’s all-conference team on Wednesday. Texas (30-23) will open its run at the conference’s annual tournament on Friday.
National Freshman of the Year finalists
- Oklahoma DP Jocelyn Alo
- Michigan P Meghan Beaubien
- Mississippi State C Mia Davidson
- Arkansas P Mary Haff
- Texas 2B Janae Jefferson
- UCLA OF Aaliyah Jordan
- Northwestern 2B Rachel Lewis
- Washington P Gabbie Plain
- Gardner-Webb 1B Katie Prebble
- Florida State 2B Sydney Sherrill
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