Barnhill, Lorenz Named Top 4 Finalists for USA Softball Player of the Year

USA Softball named juniors Kelly Barnhill and Amanda Lorenz as top four finalists for the 2018 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year. Barnhill and Lorenz are joined by Paige Parker of the Oklahoma Sooners and Rachel Garcia of the UCLA Bruins.

Barnhill is the reigning Player of the Year and is the only Gator besides Lauren Haeger in 2015 to win the award. In interviews before the Gainesville Super Regional, Barnhill and Lorenz said they were focused on beating No. 15 Texas A&M and advancing to the Women’s College World Series.

We’ll see you next weekend! 🔥🔥#WeChomp #TheEdge pic.twitter.com/crrADM6aLv

— Gators Softball (@GatorsSB) May 21, 2018

Statistics and Honors

Kelly Barnhill (28-1) is a right-handed pitcher from Marietta, Georgia, who is also the 2018 SEC Pitcher of the Year. She has thrown five complete-game no-hitters and has pitched 16 games with 10 or more strikeouts. Her 0.98 ERA and 300 strikeouts are good for ninth and seventh in the nation among Division I pitchers. Additionally, she is third overall in strikeouts per seven innings and leads the nation with only 2.53 hits allowed per game.

Other 2018 Honors and Awards:

• NFCA All-Southeast Region First Team
• All-SEC First Team
• SEC Community Service Team
• USA Softball Player of the Year Top 4 Finalist
• SEC Pitcher of the Week (Feb. 26/March 5/March 27/April 17)
• Louisville Slugger/NFCA Pitcher of the Week (Feb. 27)
• USA Softball Player of the Week (Feb. 27)
• Google Cloud CoSIDA Academic All-District Team
• Team USA Member

Amanda Lorenz is a left fielder from Moorpark, California, who is the 2018 SEC Player of the Year. She has reached base safely in 61 appearances this season. Contributing to her run is pitchers walking her once per game. Despite this, Lorenz has a .418 batting average and a .575 on-base percentage, leading to 1.11 runs per game. Lorenz had 19 multi-hit games and 16 multi-RBI games.

Other 2018 Honors and Awards:

• NFCA All-Southeast Region First Team
• SEC Tournament MVP
• SEC All-Tournament Team
• All-SEC First Team
• USA Softball Player of the Year Top 4 Finalist
• SEC Player of the Week (Feb. 26/April 24)

Putting in the work every day to keep our story going! 🐊💪☀️ pic.twitter.com/2fzlryGmj2

— Gators Softball (@GatorsSB) May 23, 2018

What’s Next?

The winner of the award will be announced at the team-only banquet on Tuesday, May 29. The Women’s College World Series takes place from May 31 to June 5/6 at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.