The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Softball's Luna named Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week
03.05.2013 | Softball
March 5, 2013
IRVING, Texas - Senior Blaire Luna made it three weeks and three Big 12 Conference weekly honors for Texas as she was named the Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week, according to an announcement Tuesday by league officials. The award is the first for Luna this season and the 10th of her career.
It is the first time Texas has won three consecutive weekly awards from the league since Feb. 14, 22 and 28, 2006, when Cat Osterman took home all three Pitcher of the Week honors and Tina Boutelle (Feb. 22) and Desiree Williams (Feb. 28) won Player of the Week recognition. UT is the second Big 12 program to win awards in three-straight weeks this season as Oklahoma's Keilani Ricketts (Pitcher Feb. 12 and 26), Michelle Gascoigne (Pitcher Feb. 19) and Lauren Chamberlain (Hitter Feb. 12) received recognition.
Luna pitched 15.0 innings last week and earned a pair of victories over top-15 opponents by shutting out then-No. 15 Louisville 2-0 and earning a 7-2 win against then-No. 13 Louisiana. Luna also entered for one inning against Hofstra.
The Austin product recorded 26 strikeouts, good for an average of 1.73 per inning. She came within one out of the sixth no-hitter of her career against Louisville before a two-out double in the seventh inning spoiled the bid. She fanned 13 in the shutout performance. The blanking stretched her scoreless-inning streak to 36.1.
After surrendering a run to Hofstra with a home run, Luna bounced back with a victory over Louisiana on Saturday afternoon. She scattered seven hits and fanned 11 in picking up her second win of the weekend.
Luna has pitched 104 career games with five or more whiffs and 55 fanning 10 or more. Luna's shutout of Louisiana was the 41st of her career. She picked up the 89th win of her career Saturday afternoon and is now alone in fifth on the Big 12 career shutout chart and tied for eighth on the league's all-time wins list.
This season, she leads the Big 12 Conference in wins (nine), strikeouts (109), and opponent batting average at .086. She also stands second in the league in earned-run average (0.74).
Also receiving honors from the league this week was Baylor freshman Linsey Hays, who was tabbed as the Big 12 Player of the Week.
Luna and the No. 10/11 Longhorns (19-3) return to action Wednesday with a doubleheader versus No. 15/18 Louisiana (15-5). Both games will be broadcast live on Longhorn Network.
