TU Softball Earns Preseason Accolades

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.