LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Seniors Emily Adler and Kayleigh Jones have been named to the 2023 Tucci/NFCA D2 Player and Pitcher of the Year Watchlist announced Thursday afternoon.
New in 2023, the list is broken down into the eight NCAA Regions (Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast and West) with up to 15 student-athletes represented in each region. The list is compiled and the award is voted on by the elected members of the NFCA Division II All-American Committee with one head coach representing each of the eight NCAA regions.
Voted on by the NFCA's Division II All-American Committee, the 2023 Tucci/NFCA Player and Pitcher of the Year will be announced on June 1. All student-athletes are eligible for the end-of-the-season award and do not have to be on this list to be considered.
This season, the duo has propelled Oklahoma Baptist to a 27-9 overall record, including a 12-5 mark in conference play. The Bison are one game out of first place in the GAC standings with a month to go.
Adler has been hot at the plate all season, pacing the GAC in batting average (.425) and hits (48). The latter figure ranks 17th in the country. She leads the conference in on-base percentage (.496) while ranking third in stolen bases (13) and fourth for RBIs (27).
The Rose Hill, Kan. native has 14 multi-hit games, including two with four hits, and seven multi-RBI games. At one point during the year, Adler had a 14-game hit streak, the longest on the team.
Jones is on pace to lead the nation in strikeouts for a second straight season with 212 takedowns thus far. She is the only pitcher in Division II with 200-plus punchouts. This is where Jones stacks up in other national categories: ninth in ERA (0.79), second in shutouts (8), third in complete games (16), and second in victories (19). Furthermore, she has 12 games with double-digit strikeouts and collected her third career no-hitter against Emporia State in February.
Jones has claimed the GAC's Pitcher of the Week honor four times and earned a Wilson/NFCA Player of the Week nod this year.
