The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
2022 Softball Roster
Roster
Janae Jefferson
- Position:
- IF
- Height:
- 5-4
- Class:
- Senior
- High School:
- Nimitz Senior
- Hometown:
- Humble, Texas
- Major:
- Physical Culture & Sports
HONORS & AWARDS
• Texas career leader in total hits (270) and batting average (.431) - entering 2022
• 2019, 2021 & 2022 Top 50 Preseason Watch List for USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year
• 2021 Top 25 Finalist for USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year
• 2018 & 2019 NFCA Second Team All-American
• 2021 NFCA Third Team All-American
• 2019 Softball America First Team All-American
• 2020 Softball America Shortened Season Second Team All-American
• 2021 Softball America Third Team All-American
• 2018 Schutt Sports/NFCA National Freshman of the Year Top 10 Finalist
• 2019 & 2021 Second Team NFCA All-Central Region
• 2018 First Team NFCA All-Central Region
• 2018, 2019 & 2021 (unanimous) First Team All-Big 12 Conference
• 2018 Big 12 Conference All-Freshman Team
• 2022 Big 12 Conference Preseason Team
• 2021 & 2022 D1Softball Preseason First Team All-American
• 2020 Softball America Preseason Second Team All-American
• 2021 Softball America Preseason First Team All-American
• Big 12 Conference Player of the Week (March 10, 2020)
AS A JUNIOR (2021)
Selected as both a NFCA and Softball America Third Team All-American as well as a unanimous All-Big 12 First Team selection ... NFCA All-Central Region Second Team choice ... Named a Top 25 finalist for the USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year award ... Started and played in 51 games while leading Texas in batting average (.446 - third Big 12), hits (75 - sixth Big 12), on-base percentage (.495 - seventh Big 12) and steals (14 - tied 7th Big 12) ... Rated second in the league in runs scored (49) and third in total bases (100) ... Reached base safely in 47-of-51 games played and led Texas with 25 multi-hit efforts ... At Baylor (May 9), Jefferson etched her name in the UT record book by breaking former Longhorns standout Brejae Washington’s career mark with her 255th hit ... Registered a 13-game hitting streak (May 2-29) and ended the year riding a 14-game reached base streak ... Batted .524 (11-for-21) during NCAA Tournament play with two doubles and four RBIs ... Hit at a .500 clip (6-for-12) during the three-game sweep of Baylor (May 7-9) ... Was 2-for-2 with a solo HR at No. 1 Oklahoma (April 17) ... Posted a .429 (5-for-12) average during the Iowa State series, including a 2-for-5, two-HR, three-RBI performance in an 11-5 triumph on April 10 ... Managed three RBIs during wins over Ole Miss (3-for-4 - Feb. 28) and Tarleton State (3-for-4, three runs - March 13) ... Blasted her first career HR as part of a 2-for-3 effort with two runs scored in a 10-6 victory over Texas A&M-CC (March 10) ... Started off the year by going 2-for-3 with two runs scored, a triple and a RBI in the season opener against Wichita State (Feb. 21).
AS A JUNIOR (2020 COVID-19 SHORTENED SEASON)
A 2020 Softball America Shortened Season Second Team All-American ... Started all 27 games while batting .554 overall (41-for-74) to rank third in all of NCAA Division I and first in the Big 12 Conference in batting average ... Tied for fourth in NCAA Division I and led the Big 12 in total hits (41), while rating third in the nation in on-base percentage (.607 - 13 walks) ... Posted 13 multi-hit games (five three-hit efforts), hit safely in 23-of-27 games and ended the season reaching base safely in 17 straight games ... Batted .750 (9-for-12) with four runs scored, three steals and two RBIs during the four-game Longhorn Invitational (March 6-8) ... Was 1-for-3 with a RBI in the 6-4 (8 inn.) upset of No. 1 UCLA (Feb. 27) in Los Angeles ... Combined on a 3-for-6 effort with a RBI during the doubleheader against No. 10 Louisiana (Feb. 25) ... Was 2-for-2 with a walk, two runs scored and a RBI in the 11-0 (5 inn.) thrashing of No. 12 Tennessee (Feb. 14) at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico ... Registered three hits in games against New Mexico (3-for-4, double, three steals, March 8), Liberty (3-for-3, RBI, March 6), Weber State (3-for-4, double, Feb. 23) and Duke (3-for-4, Feb. 22) ... Hit at a .625 clip (10-for-16) with 11 runs scored over the Texas Classic (Feb. 6-9) ... Started off the year by going 3-for-4 with three runs scored and two stolen bases during the 10-2 (6 inn.) season-opening victory over Wichita State (Feb. 6).
AS A SOPHOMORE (2019)
Was tabbed as a NFCA Second-Team All-American, a Softball America First-Team All-American, a NFCA All-Central Region Second Team and All-Big 12 Conference First Team selection after leading Texas in batting average (.408 - second in the Big 12) and hits (80 - third in the Big 12) ... Reached base safely in 52-of-62 games played (started 62 games) and posted a team-leading 25 multi-hit efforts ... Hit safely in each of the first five games of the season, including a 3-for-3 performance with two runs and two RBIs in the 10-0 rout of California (Feb. 14) at the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational ... Led the way for the Horns during the NCAA Tuscaloosa Super Regional, batting .600 (6-for-10 overall), and hit at a .385 clip (10-for-26) over the entire NCAA Tournament ... Tied a career-high with two doubles and scored the winning run in the eighth inning of the 3-2 (8 inn.) NCAA Regional victory over Texas A&M (May 18) ... Went 3-for-5 and crossed the plate once during the razor-thin, 4-3 (8 inn.) loss to No. 1 Oklahoma (April 19) ... Batted .500 (5-for-10) during the three-game series at No. 21 Oklahoma State (March 29-31) ... Equaled a career-high with three hits in a loss to No. 22 Minnesota (March 10) ... Posted a 2-for-3, two-run, two-double, three-RBI effort in game two of the doubleheader against Longwood (March 6) ... Managed three hits and scored three runs in the 11-4 rout of No. 15 Arizona State (March 1) at the Sun Devil Classic ... Led the way at a .467 clip (7-for-15) to go with six runs scored during the Texas Invitational (Feb. 22-24) ... Batted a team-best .500 (7-for-14) over the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational with two hits in games against No. 8 LSU (Feb. 15) and No. 18 Kentucky (Feb. 16).
AS A FRESHMAN (2018)
Became the fourth Texas freshman and 12th overall UT player to earn NFCA All-American honors with a second-team selection ... Was a top 10 finalist for the Schutt Sports/NFCA National Freshman of the Year award (first Longhorns player to make the cut to 10) ... Named First Team NFCA All-Central Region, First Team All-Big 12 Conference and Big 12 All-Freshman ... Led the Longhorns with 23 multi-hit and seven multi-RBI (tied for the lead) efforts ... Her 32 hits during the Big 12 campaign were the most by any Longhorns player in history and the second most by a player in a single-season in league history ... Posted a career-best 19-game streak of reaching base safely from April 11 to May 12 ... Registered a career-long 14-game hitting streak (April 11-May 2) ... Reached base in 50 of 59 games and hit safely in 45 of 59 contests ... Hit safely during each of her first eight contests to set a Texas record for a freshman starting her career ... Didn’t strikeout for the first time in her career until her 37th game and 133rd plate appearance and was one of the “toughest players to strikeout” in NCAA Division I softball (just seven K’s in 218 plate appearances) ... Topped the Longhorns in batting average (.392), hits (74), runs (30), total bases (87), on-base percentage (.463) and steals (11 - tied with Kay Kay Hayter) ... Was 2-for-4 during the 3-0 loss to No. 25/20 Minnesota (May 19) at the NCAA Seattle Regional ... Posted a .364 mark (4-for-11) while hitting safely in all three games at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship (May 11-12), including 2-for-3 with a run against No. 3 Oklahoma ... Went 2-for-4 in the 2-0 loss at No. 19/18 Baylor (May 6) ... Doubled in each game during the DH sweep of UIW (May 2) ... Batted a remarkable .600 (6-for-10) during the series at No. 3 Oklahoma (April 27-29) with a double and a stolen base and was 3-for-4 in the finale (April 29) ... Tied a career-high in hits with a 3-for-3, double, two-RBI effort in the 6-0 shutout of Texas Southern (April 25) ... Continued to power Texas’ attack, going 7-for-11 during the series (.636) against No. 24/19 Oklahoma State with a key two-RBI single in UT’s 3-0 win over the Cowgirls (April 20) ... Led UT during the series sweep of Texas Tech (April 13-15) by batting .636 overall (7-for-11) ... Has a career game in the 15-2 (5 inn.) series-opening win over Samford, going 3-for-3 with a double, three runs scored and three RBIs ... Continued her hot hitting by registering another .500 (5-for-10) weekend with five runs scored and three RBIs during the road sweep of Iowa State (March 29-30), including a career-high 3-for-5 effort in Saturday’s 11-4 series finale win ... Hit .500 (4-for-8) with three runs scored from the leadoff spot in the lineup during the Big 12 sweep of Kansas (March 23-25) ... Batted a solid .429 (6-for-14) during the Charleston Invitational (March 16-18) with two multi-hit efforts ... Was 1-for-3 in the series opener against No. 9/8 Arizona (March 2) ... Hit in three of five games during the Texas Invitational with her best game coming in the 3-2 win over Virginia Tech (Feb. 24) as Jefferson went 2-for-4 with the game-winning RBI double ... Walked twice during the 2-1 loss to No. 1 Washington (Feb. 21) ... Was named to the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge All-Tournament Team after topping the Texas line-up during the event at .545 overall (6-for-11) with a double and two RBIs ... Helped power UT past Houston (7-3, Feb. 17) in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, by going 2-for-4 with a run and two RBIs ... Posted a 2-for-3 effort with two RBIs during a 6-2 loss to Colorado State (Feb. 10) ... Went 2-for-2 with a triple and two RBIs in her collegiate debut as the Horns knocked off UIW (Feb. 9) at the Texas Classic, 2-0.
TRAVEL BALL
For her Texas Aces Express Gold travel ball team and head coach David McCorkle, Jefferson helped power her squad to first place at the 2014 Triple Crown Tournament in Atlanta, Ga., and fourth place at the 2014 ASA Nationals ... She was also a 2017 PGF First Team All-American.
BEFORE TEXAS
A three-sport athlete, Jefferson earned letters in softball, volleyball and basketball at Nimitz Senior H.S. in Houston, Texas ... On the diamond, the 5-4 outfielder, FloSoftball’s No. 36 player overall in the organization’s national "Hot 100" and preseason 2017 Under Armour Softball All-American batted .763 as a senior with 14 doubles, 14 triples, six HR’s, 21 steals (becoming the most prolific base stealer in her school’s history) and 48 runs scored on the way to earning All-USA Today High School Second Team, MaxPreps Softball First Team All-American and FPN (Fast Pitch News) First Team honors ... A four-time All-District 18-6A selection, Jefferson earned All-Greater Houston honors as a freshman after hitting .617 overall with 16 doubles, 11 triples, 16 stolen bases and 27 RBIs ... During her sophomore campaign in 2014, she registered the most hits and the then-highest average in her school’s history by batting at a .727 clip with 74 hits, 18 doubles, 13 triples, four HR’s, 21 steals and 37 RBIs ... She managed a .687 average as a junior in 2015 with 70 hits, 21 doubles, 15 triples, 31 RBIs and 18 steals ... On the basketball hardwood, Jefferson was named first-team All-District 18-6A (2015), the 16-6A Girls All-District Co-Offensive Player of the Year (2016-17) and a Southwest All-American Team final selection, while on the volleyball court, she was a multiple-time All-District 18-6A choice ... The standout was also featured in VYPE Magazine in 2016 and on the cover in 2017.
PERSONAL
Full name is Janae Reann Jefferson ... Born February 3, 1999, in Houston, Texas ... Daughter of Vincent and Catherine Jefferson ... Has one brother, Jalen ... Her cousin, Michael Jackson, was a Major League Baseball pitcher from 1986-2004 for the Phillies, Mariners, Giants, Reds, Indians (played in the 1997 World Series), Astros, Twins and White Sox, winning 62 games and registering 142 saves during his career ... Cites going 11-for-11 at the 2016 Junior Olympic Cup as her most memorable moment in sports to date.
