Jennie Finch
Jennie Finch
The dominant pitcher/player in collegiate softball, Finch finished the 2001
season with an 32-0 pitching record to establish the NCAA record... Earned the
Honda Softball Award as the national Player of the Year... Received Most
Outstanding Player honors after posting a 3-0 record in Oklahoma City... Earned
first-team All-America honors... 2001 Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year... Along with a
number of other Cats, Finch earned Louisville Slugger All-Pacific Region honors
and WCWS All-Tournament honors... First-team All-Pac-10 honors... Finch had an
ERA of 0.54 and tossed her fifth career no-hitter... Finch has a streak of 40
consecutive victories, No. 2 in the NCAA record book, entering 2002 play...
Struck out a career-high 14 twice, against South Carolina and Stanford, plus had
back-to-back 13 K games against the Cardinal... Struck out 10 or more in one
seven-start stretch... The first baseman or designated player when not pitching,
she had a batting average of .309... Hit three grand slams and had 11 home
runs... Finch drove in nine runs in one game against Oregon, which tied for the
second-best single-game figure in NCAA history and matched former UA slugger
Laura Espinoza's record... Finch's 29-2 record in 2000 and her 0.79 ERA earned
her first-team All-America honors as an at-large selection... Her power at the
plate tied her with a team-high 16 home runs... Hit .327 for the season... As
first baseman she recorded a .983 fielding percentage in 287 chances... Finch
tossed three no-hitters vs. Tennessee Tech, Drake and Nebraska in the NCAA
Regional Final... She also had three one-hitters and four two-hitters... Went
3-0 with an 0.35 ERA in Regionals, earning her the Most Outstanding Player award
for the second straight year... Led the team at the plate in Pac-10 play with a
hitting average of .370... Finch had a hitting streak of 14 games... Earned
All-Pac-10 first-team honors...Finch's 24 pitching victories in 1999 is second
only to teammate Becky Lemke's 25 (1998) among Arizona freshman performances...
Led the team with 14 doubles and 21 extra-base hits... Led the team most of the
year and finished second with seven home runs... Turned in a .990 fielding
percentage in 192 chances at the bag... Threw a no-hitter vs. Southwest Texas
State in NCAA Regional play, plus had a one-hitter vs. Kansas and a two-hitter
vs. Maryland in the same tournament, earning NCAA Region 2 Most Outstanding
Player honors... Also hit .353 with four doubles, a home run and six RBI to help
the Cats win the Regional... Multiple hits in 12 games... Honorable mention
All-Pac-10 honors in 1999... ASA background at the top levels – member of
National Championship teams at 12 & under (1993), 14 & under (1995) and
18 & under Gold (1997), plus a No. 2 finish in 1998 and a fourth-place in
‘92... Member of the Team USA for inaugural Junior Superball international
competition – gold-medal winners over Australia in June 1998...
Jennie Finch High School: La Mirada High School, La Mirada, Calif.,
1998... Earned four softball letters for four different coaches, two in
basketball and two in volleyball... Pitcher, first baseman and shortstop in
softball... 1998 La Mirada Female Athlete of the Year... Athletics Directors
Association Female Athlete Award ‘98... Team captain her senior year in
softball, senior year in volleyball and last two years in basketball...
Basketball team MVP final two years... Softball honors include three-year team
MVP award, Suburban League MVP final two seasons, first-team All-Suburban League
three years, All-CIF Division II, three years, Whittier Daily News All-Area
three years, Long Beach Press-Telegram Softball Dream Team final two years and
Press-Telegram's Player of the Year in 1998... Her team was Suburban League
Champions all four years... Four-year record of 50-12, with four saves, six
perfect games, 13 no-hitters and 14 one-hitters... Struck out 784 in 445 innings
and finished with a career earned run average of 0.15... Chosen by Jump Magazine
as the No. 1 high school recruit...
