March 15, 2011
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – The Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America announced today that Kentucky’s Megan Yocke (Sunnyvale, Calif.) has been named the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Week for the Week of March 7-13. Yocke hit at a .556 clip in leading the Wildcats to a pair of upsets of then-No. 8 Tennessee, the first time Kentucky has taken a series from Tennessee since 2000.
With UK trailing 4-1 going into the bottom of the seventh inning of the final game of the series, Yocke came through for the Wildcats to help break the series tie. With two runners aboard and two outs, Yocke smacked a three-run home run to tie the score at four apiece and force extra innings. UK would win the game 5-4 to win the series with UT for the first time in over 10 years.
Yocke reached base four times in that final contest as she added a pair of walks to her two hits. She was intentionally walked in the bottom of the 10th inning to load the bases and set the stage for sophomore Kara Dill’s walk-off single to win the game.
“Getting this award is amazing. As a player you always strive for honors like this, but you never really think it’s possible when you play in the SEC and play among all of those great players. This is an incredible honor not only for me, but for the Kentucky program,” said Yocke. “It’s proof that this program is taking strides forward. Beating Tennessee in a series for the first time since 2000 is just another step towards what we’re hoping to accomplish.”
For the series, Yocke batted a team-high .556 and twice had multiple-hit games. Her fifth home run of the year proved to be the difference maker in the series. With the three-run homer, Yocke charted her 102nd career RBI to become just the ninth player in program history to chart 100 or more career RBI. She also totaled more than 30 putouts to become just the third player in school allure to tally 1,000 career put outs.
“Obviously, this is an incredible honor for our program to have an athlete be recognized by ESPN and USA Softball,” said Kentucky Head Coach Rachel Lawson. “Yocke had a great series against Tennessee, but she’s really been tremendous for us all four years. I’m just glad that she was able to show her talent in front of the entire country.”
This is the first-time honor for Yocke and second for the University of Kentucky as current Kentucky assistant coach and member of the USA Softball National Team Program Molly Johnson earned the honor in 2009.
The Wildcats will return to the road for its next two SEC series. UK is set to travel to Fayetteville, Ark., on Wed., March 16 for a doubleheader beginning at 5 p.m. ET. Kentucky will stay on the road and travel to Baton Rouge, La., for a three-game series March 18-20 against LSU.
Complete coverage of the UK softball team can be found at UKathletics.com all season long.
About ASA
The Amateur Softball Association, founded in 1933, is the National Governing Body of softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. The ASA has become one of the nation’s largest sports organizations and now sanctions competition in every state through a network of 76 local associations. The ASA has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 210,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than three million. For more information on the ASA, visit http://www.asasoftball.com/.
About USA Softball
USA Softball is the brand created, operated and owned by the ASA that links the USA Men’s, Women’s, Junior Boys’ and Junior Girls’ National Team programs together. USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting these four National Teams to compete in international and domestic competitions. The USA Softball Women’s National Team is one of the only two women’s sports involved in the Olympic movement to capture three consecutive gold medals at the Olympic Games since 1996. The U.S. women have also won nine World Championship titles including the last seven consecutive as well as claimed four World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about USA Softball, please visit http://www.usasoftball.com/
