TU Softball Earns Preseason Accolades

Tulsa's Jill Barrett was named C-USA preseason Player of the Year and Aimee Creger is the preseason Pitcher of the Year.

Tuesday, January 28th 2014, 5:31 pm

By: News On 6

Tulsa senior Jill Barrett was tabbed as the Conference USA Preseason Player of the Year and fellow senior Aimee Creger was picked as the Preseason Pitcher of the Year in a vote by the league's coaches, the conference office announced Tuesday.

Senior outfielder Haley Henshaw joined Barrett and Creger on the All-Conference USA Preseason Softball Team.

The Golden Hurricane was picked to finish second in Conference USA in 2014, after posting a 42-16-1 overall record and a 19-5 mark in C-USA last year. Tulsa received five of 13 first-place votes, behind the seven first-place votes for UAB, which was picked as the favorite to win the league.

Barrett started all 59 games at third base last season and compiled a .415 batting average, 83 hits, 42 runs, 31 RBI, 12 doubles, a .515 slugging percentage and a .459 on-base percentage. She is a two-time All-C-USA first-team selection and two-time C-USA All-Academic Team selection.

Creger is a two-time NFCA Third-Team All-America and was the 2013 C-USA Pitcher of the Year. Last season, she was 25-7 with a 1.15 ERA and 286 strikeouts in 200.2 innings. She tallied eight shutouts, 26 complete games in 30 starts, and allowed a .176 opponent batting average. She already holds TU career records for wins (68) and strikeouts (726).

Henshaw had a breakout season in 2013, when she started 54 games in right field and earned second-team All-C-USA honors. She hit .321 with 44 RBI, 23 runs, five home runs, eight doubles, three triples, a .497 slugging and a .379 on-base percentage.

Behind UAB and Tulsa, Marshall, East Carolina, North Texas and FIU rounded out the top six in the poll of the 13-team league. ECU received one first-place vote.

Tulsa opens the 2014 season at the FAU Kick-Off Classic Feb. 7-9, in Boca Raton, Fla. TU plays at the Aggie Classic, Feb. 14-16, in College Station, Texas, and the Georgia Tech-Kennesaw State Crossover Feb. 21-23 in Atlanta/Kennesaw, Ga.

The Golden Hurricane plays its home opener with the Tulsa Invitational Feb. 28-March 2 at the Collins Family Softball Complex.