The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
No. 6 Softball’s Jefferson & Burke named D1Softball Preseason All-Americans
01.29.2021 | Softball
Jefferson & Burke were two of just 34 total players lauded by the organization over two All-American teams
AUSTIN, Texas – Texas junior second baseman Janae Jefferson and junior utility player Lauren Burke were each selected as D1Softball Preseason All-Americans according to a release from the organization.
Jefferson was tabbed to the first team at second base, while Burke was named to the second team as a first baseman. The Burnt Orange & White duo represented two of the seven total Big 12 Conference student-athletes included among the pair of preseason squads.
Already a 2021 USA Softball National Player of the Year Watch List inclusion, Jefferson heads into her fourth season at Texas as a multiple-time All-American. The Humble, Texas, native finished the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign by leading the Big 12 in batting average (.554 – 3rd in NCAA Division I), hits (41 – 4th in NCAA) and on-base percentage (.607 – 3rd in NCAA) while also posting eight extra-base hits, 13 walks and stealing 10 bases. The 2020 Softball America Shortened Season All-American also led the squad with 13 multi-hit games, including five three-hit efforts, and ended the year on a 17-game streak of reaching base safely. She earned the final Big 12 Conference Player of the Week accolade on March 10 after hitting .750 with a 1.714 OPS during UT's 4-0 run through the Longhorn Invitational. Jefferson currently owns the best career batting average in school history at .425, well ahead of Lexy Bennett's (2009-12) second-ranked .385 mark.
A native of Eugene, Ore., Burke readies to begin her third season on the Forty Acres following a standout 2020 campaign that saw her bat .453 overall with 29 hits, 12 doubles, two triples, four HR's, 20 RBIs and a 1.412 OPS over just 24 games played. She rated fifth in all of NCAA Division I in doubles, eighth in the nation in doubles-per-game (0.50) and 15th in slugging percentage at a Texas-best .891. Burke also ranked second in the Big 12 Conference in batting average, trailing only Jefferson's gaudy mark. She registered 10 multi-hit efforts, including a 3-for-4 performance with a double, a HR and three RBIs in an 8-6 upset of No. 2 Washington at the Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, Calif. Burke also blasted a key eighth-inning solo HR to help the Longhorns upset No. 1 UCLA in Los Angeles, 6-4 (8 inn.), and posted two doubles in a single game on three separate occasions: against Cal Baptist, Lipscomb and Boise State.
