Tigers Earn Big 12 Honors

Tigers sweep weekly honors, earn POTY awards
by MizzMatt 5/17/11 @matt_jeffrey17 on Twitter

Columbia, MO- The Big 12 issued their yearly awards for best players in softball.  MU redshirt sophomore pitcher Chelsea Thomas takes home Pitcher of the Year while catcher Megan Christopher took home Co-Defensive Player of the Year.  Coach Ehren Earleywine was honored by the Big 12 as Coach of the Year, leading Mizzou to a 46-7, 15-5 regular season record.  Thomas is currently tied for first in the NCAA with a 0.81 ERA in addition to her 27-5 record.

Thomas' 2011 stats:  27-5 record, 0.81 ERA,  208.0 innings pitched, 103 hits, 323 strikeouts, 31 runs (24 earned), 11 shutouts with an average of 1.31 base on balls and 10.87 strikeouts per seven innings, respectively.

Missouri also led the Big 12 in pitching as a team with 1.26 cumulative ERA.

Coach Ehren Earleywine

Lisa Simmons earned award for Big 12 Player of the Week while Thomas captured her sixth Pitcher of the Week honors this year, eighth of her college career.

Regional play starts on Friday against Illinois State at 6:30, following the Indiana/DePaul matchup at 4 at University Field in Columbia.  The winners of the games will face each other on Saturday at noon.

C Megan Christopher