Pac-12 announces 2018 softball All-Conference honors

UCLA’S RACHEL GARCIA NAMED PLAYER OF THE YEAR
OREGON’S MEGAN KLEIST VOTED PITCHER OF THE YEAR

WASHINGTON’S SIS BATES TABBED DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

UCLA’S AALIYAH JORDAN NAMED FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
AND PAC-12 BATTING CHAMPION
ARIZONA STATE’S TRISHA FORD SELECTED AS COACH OF THE YEAR


SAN FRANCISCO – The 2018 Pac-12 Softball All-Conference honors, including All-Pac-12, All-Freshman and All-Defensive teams, were announced today by the Conference office. In a vote of the Conference’s head coaches, UCLA’s Rachel Garcia was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year. OREGON junior Megan Kleist was voted Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year. WASHINGTON’s Sis Bates garnered Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. UCLA’s Aaliyah Jordan was tabbed Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and also earned Pac-12 Batting Champion. Arizona State head coach Trisha Ford was voted Pac-12 Coach of the Year.

Pac-12 Player of the Year– Rachel Garcia, SO, P, UCLA (Palmdale, Calif.)
Garcia earned the Conference’s Player of the Year honor after leading the Bruins to a second-place finish in the Pac-12. The Bruins topped the national polls for the final two weeks of the regular season. Garcia received four Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week honors this season, including winning both Player and Pitcher of the Week honor on Apr. 16. She also won three Louisville Slugger/NFCA DI National Player of the Week honors. Garcia becomes the 14th Bruin all-time to receive the Pac-12 Player of the Year award. She was the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year in 2017 and is a two-time All-Conference first team selection. Over the season, Garcia picked up 21 wins with only 2 losses and a 1.08 ERA. She also hit a .355 average with nine home runs.

Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year – Megan Kleist, JR, P, Oregon (Appleton, Wis.)
Kleist earns the Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year honor with a 20-5 record, posting 200 strikeouts in 160.2 innings of work to lead the Ducks to a Conference regular-season title. She earned Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week twice this season bringing, her career total to four weekly awards. Kleist finished the regular season second in ERA (0.96), placing her seventh in the NCAA stats. She is a three-time All-Conference first team selection.

Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year – Sis Bates, SO, SS, Washington (Ceres, Calif.)
Bates receives Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year nod after leading the Huskies to a 15-8 Conference record and a 44-8 overall record. The Huskies led the nation in the nation polls for nine-consecutive weeks and has been in the top 10 the entire season. Bates started in all 52 games of the season, ending with a .985 field percentage. She also leads the Huskies and is second in the Conference in batting average with a .400. Bates was a member of the All-Freshman team in 2017.

Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and Batting Champion – Aaliyah Jordan, FR, OF, UCLA (Chula Vista, Calif.)
Jordan led the Bruins to a second-place finish and a No. 1 ranking in the nation polls for the last two weeks of the regular season. She started all 54 games, ending with a .444 batting average. Her batting average topped the league, earning her the title of Pac-12 Batting Champion. She earned Conference honors six times this season, including garnering both Player and Freshman of the Week on April 23. Jordan is a member of the All-Conference first team and All-Freshman team.

Pac-12 Coach of the Year – Trisha Ford, Arizona State
Ford led the Sun Devils to a third-place finish in the Conference with a 16-8 Pac-12 record and a 43-11 overall record. ASU was not ranked coming in to the season, but worked its way up to spending the last seven weeks in the top 10 of the USA Today/NFCA polls. ASU student-athletes were honored with Player of the Week honors six times this season. The Sun Devils have two student-athletes on the All-Conference first team.

2018 PAC-12 ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS
FIRST TEAM

SECOND TEAM

THIRD TEAM

ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM

ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM