The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
02.27.2024 | Softball
In conjunction with Kayden Henry’s league honor last week, this is the first time Texas has secured Big 12 Player of the Week in three consecutive weeks
AUSTIN, Texas – For the second time in the season's first three weeks, Texas' Reese Atwood has been named the Big 12 Conference, D1Softball and Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I Player of the Week, all three organizations announced Tuesday.
Atwood is the first Big 12 softball student-athlete since 2021, and the fifth overall, to win the league's top player of the week honor twice in the first three weeks of the season. She's the first Longhorn softball student-athlete to earn the Big 12's Player of the Week award multiple times in the same season since Lindsey Stephens earned three throughout the 2016 campaign.
Atwood is also the first Longhorn non-pitching softball student-athlete in program history to earn NFCA's top player of the week status on multiple occasions during the same season. Hailey Dolcini (2021), Cat Osterman (2002, 2003) and Christa Williams (1998) were all Longhorn pitchers who earned NFCA National Player of the Week honors on multiple occasions.
In six games last week, Atwood led the Big 12 in hits (11), home runs (5), runs batted in (16), total bases (27) and slugging percentage (1.588) during the third week of the season. The Longhorns' sophomore catcher became just the third student-athlete to ever hit a home run off Stanford All-American pitcher NiJaree Canady when Atwood hit a 263-foot game-tying two-run home run against the Cardinal. Atwood's .647 batting average was the highest among Big 12 student-athletes with 13-or-more official plate appearances.
2024 Big 12 Softball Players of the Week
|
Date |
Player of the Week |
Pitcher of the Week |
|
Feb. 13 |
Reese Atwood, Texas, C/1B, So.^ |
Kelly Maxwell, Oklahoma, Gr. |
|
Feb. 20 |
Kayden Henry, Texas, OF, Fr.^ |
Citlaly Gutierrez, Texas, So. |
|
Feb. 27 |
Reese Atwood, Texas, C/1B, So.^ |
Lexi Kilfoyl, Oklahoma State, Gr. |
^Louisville Slugger/NFCA DI Player of the Week
UP NEXT
Texas (12-1) will, again, hit the road for its next matchup when the Longhorns travel down I-35 to San Marcos to play Texas State (14-4), which is receiving votes in the latest USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll that was released earlier Tuesday morning.
FOLLOW US
For the latest information on the team, follow @TexasSoftball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. General athletic news can also be found at @TexasLonghorns on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
