University of Minnesota Athletics
Groenewegen Named Top-25 POY Finalist
4/12/2017 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Top-25 Finalists Sara Groenewegen has been named a top-25 finalist for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, the organization announced Wednesday.
Prior to the start of postseason play, the list will be narrowed to the Top 10 Finalists on May 10. The Top-3 finalists will be announced May 24, while the winner of the 2017 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award will be revealed on May 30 prior to the start of the NCAA WCWS in Oklahoma City.
The USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award is voted on by coaching representatives of 10 Division I Conferences in the 10 USA Softball Regions, members of the media who consistently cover Division I Softball across the country as well as past winners of the award.
The past two seasons Groenewegen was named a top-10 finalist for the award. She is having another dominant season in the circle this year leading the Gophers to new heights. For the first time in program history Minnesota is ranked in the top-10 and they started the season off with a record long 19 game winning streak.
Groenewegen is 17-2 on the season with a 0.70 ERA and 147 strikeouts. She has only issued 17 walks and is holding opposing batters to a .166 batting average. She is fifth in the NCAA in ERA and 24th in strikeouts. She is now second all-time in Gophers history for career wins and this season became the third player in program history to go over 1,000 career strikeouts.
On top of what she does in the circle Groenewegen is one of the few pitchers in the country that also bats. She has added four doubles and two home runs while drawing 14 walks on the season.
Groenewegen and the Gophers return home this weekend for a Big Ten series against Northwestern. First pitch on Friday is set for 6 p.m.
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