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USAO Softball STILL #PitcherU graphic - featuring white background, green text, and an image of Sophie Williams
Posted: Mar 08, 2024

STILL #PitcherU

CHICKASHA, Okla. – Since the start of the 2018 season, the Sooner Athletic Conference has awarded the Pitcher of the Week award 68 times, and a USAO pitcher has earned the recognition 34 times. In other words, the Drovers have earned HALF of the weekly awards since 2018, and they have claimed EVERYSAC Pitcher of the Year award in that span.

Seven different Drovers have earned the honor of SAC Pitcher of the Week since 2018, led by Emily Cerny's 20 awards. Sophie Williams has achieved the recognition seven times, followed by Abi Gregory with three. Jordan Detherage (2018), Lyndie Ervin (2019), Summer Leitka (2019), and Randa Hatter (2019) each earned the award once.

 

The USAO pitching staff has been a dominant force since the mid-2000's, having produced a team earned run average under 4.00 in 13 of the last 14 seasons. Additionally, they have not had a season with a team ERA over 3.00 since 2016, when the Drover pitching staff had a 3.02 ERA.

 

Since 2018, the USAO pitching staff has produced a win-loss record of 297-46 (.866). Additionally, the unit has a sensational earned run average of 1.44, along with 2,522 strikeouts in 2,192.2 innings pitched. Furthermore, the team has recorded 26 no-hitters/perfect games and 116 shutouts in the last 343 games played. In that same span, the Drovers have only surrendered 452 earned runs. Pitching played a major role in earning the 2018 NAIA National Championship, as well as five consecutive NAIA national tournament appearances (no tourney in 2020 – COVID), and a trio of SAC Championships.

 

Sophie Williams has delivered three no-hitters, and three perfect games since the start of the 2022 season. As a freshman in 2022, Williams earned first-team all-conference honors as well as a second-team NAIA All-American selection. As a sophomore in 2023, Williams claimed the SAC Pitcher of the Year award, along with a first-team NAIA All-American Selection and a first-team All-SAC selection. In her career, Williams owns a 51-14 record and a 1.34 ERA with 520 strikeouts in 416.2 innings of work. 

So far in 2024, the junior has claimed three SAC Pitcher of the Week awards, and she has delivered a perfect game, as well as a no-hitter. This season, she currently owns a 9-1 record and a 0.67 ERA, along with 82 strikeouts in 52.0 innings.

 

Abi Gregory made an instant impact as a freshman in 2023, delivering two no-hitters and a 14-3 record. In 2023, Gregory recorded a 3.43 ERA with 128 strikeouts in 96.0 innings of work. For her efforts, Gregory earned three SAC Pitcher of the Week awards in 2023.

 

Jadyn Anderson set program record with 19 strikeouts in first career start against Tabor College on Feb. 9, 2024. The freshman currently owns a 3-1 record, along with a 2.22 ERA and has struck out 42 batters in 34.2 innings pitched. 

 

THE G.O.A.T WAS HERE…

Emily Cerny completed the greatest career in NAIA softball history in the spring of 2022 and became the first NAIA player to ever appear in the Women's Professional Fastpitch (WPF) as a member of the Oklahoma City Spark in the summer of 2023. 

In her collegiate career, she climbed to the top of the list of nine different statistical categories in the NAIA record books. Cerny owns the NAIA record for most appearances (186), starts (158), complete games (132), wins (144), shutouts (68), innings (1,047.0), no-hitters (16), perfect games (7), and strikeouts (1,414). 

 

Cerny earned the NAIA Pitcher of the Year award three times, SAC Pitcher of the Year award five times, four-time NAIA First Team All-American selection, five-time First Team All-SAC selections, and she was named the 2018 NAIA Softball World Series MVP as she led the Drovers to the national championship.

 

She is also the first woman with multiple Sooner Athletic Conference Female Athlete of the Year awards (2021, 2022).

 

As a Drover, she helped lead the team to four NAIA Softball National Championship tournament appearances, which includes the national championship in 2018, along with third-place finishes in 2019 and 2022. She helped lead USAO to a pair of SAC Championships, and the longest win-streak in NAIA history (59 games – 2018 to 2019).

 

Cerny concludes her sensational career with a record of 144-22, having won 86.7 percent of her outings, along with a 1.08 career earned run average. 

 

The USAO softball team has announced that Emily Cerny will be the final player in program history to wear the jersey No. 1, and her number will be officially retired with a ceremony at a date yet to be determined. Cerny is seemingly a lock as a future NAIA Hall of Fame selection, adding on to her already incredible collection of hardware.

 

 

WHAT'S NEXT?

No. 2 ranked USAO aims to extend their 9-game win-streak as they head to Waxahachie, Texas for a four-game series at SAGU on March 8-9. Friday's double-header is scheduled to begin at 1:00 PM CT, followed by a noon start time for Saturday's twin-bill. 

 

 

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