University of Minnesota Athletics
Hassett Named Big Ten's Pitcher of the Week
3/23/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
University of Minnesota senior pitcher Briana Hassett has been selected as the Big Ten Conference’s Pitcher of the Week for games of March 16-22, the league office announced on Monday.
A native of Eagan, Minn. (Eastview High School), Hassett was instrumental in Minnesota going 5-1 last week. She started five of the six games for the Gophers, and posted a record of 4-1 with a 0.81 earned run average. The right-hander had three complete games, including back-to-back shutouts of Indiana to help Minnesota open Big Ten play at 2-0 for the second-straight year.
Hassett allowed just nine hits and an opponent batting average of .102, while striking out an amazing 52 batters in 26.0 innings, an average of two strikeouts per frame. She limited Indiana to three total hits over the weekend, while fanning 25 batters in 14.0 innings.
"Briana did a tremendous job for Minnesota softball last week," Gophers co-head coach Lisa Bernstein said. "She threw the ball extremely well, mixed all of her pitches effectively, and we’re really proud of her effort."
It marks the first time this season that a University of Minnesota softball player has been honored by the Big Ten, and the third time in Hassett’s career that she’s been chosen as the conference’s Pitcher of the Week. She received the honor twice (Feb. 25, March 3) during her junior season in 2008.
For the season, Hassett has struck out a career-high 278 batters in 184 1/3 innings of work. She has already surpassed her 2008 total of 276 strikeouts just two games into the conference season. She is on pace to shatter Minnesota’s single-season record for strikeouts, currently held by Gopher assistant coach Piper Marten, who registered 311 Ks during 2003. Marten also had a total of 301 during 2002.
A second-team all-Big Ten selection last season, Hassett currently leads the Big Ten in wins (18), appearances (33), games started (29), complete games (22), shutouts (12), innings pitched (184 1/3), and strikeouts (278).
Hassett also is moving up several of Minnesota’s career pitching charts, currently ranking second for strikeouts (826) and shutouts (29), third for complete games (71), and fourth for wins (56).
Minnesota continues Big Ten play this weekend, when it travels to West Lafayette, Ind., for a pair of games against the Purdue Boilermakers. Saturday’s first pitch is slated for 1:00 p.m. CT.
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