Kentucky?s Jessica Trueblood (Salem, Ore.) has been named the Southeastern Conference?s Freshman of the Week after leading the Wildcats to wins over No. 13 Washington and Long Beach State last week, the league office in Birmingham, Ala., announced Monday. The conference honor is the first for the Wildcat softball team since the 2003 season.

Trueblood recorded the first career win in her collegiate debut against No. 13 Washington in the Wildcats? season opener at the UNLV Alexis Resort Kickoff Classic. She struck out three in that contest and allowed just one run on three hits in the complete-game win. The Salem, Ore., native did not walk a UW batter and retired 16 straight Huskie batters to end the game. Trueblood followed the UW performance with a complete-game win over Illinois-Chicago on Saturday. She struck out a season-high eight batters and retired the first nine batters to extend that streak to 21 straight. Trueblood allowed just one walk against the Flames and gave up just one run on four hits. She also played a part in the Cats? win over Long Beach State, tossing the final 0.2 innings to earn her first save of the season.

?I am so proud of Jessica and of the team,? said second-year head coach Eileen Schmidt. ?She couldn?t have received this honor without the rest of her teammates and we wouldn?t have had the weekend we had without her, Amy Kendall and Lindsay Brogdon.?

Trueblood leads the team with a 2-1 record and a 1.58 ERA. She showed amazing control, walking just three batters in her four appearances over 17.2 innings of work. Trueblood tossed two complete games and recorded 13 strikeouts, while holding batters to a .161 average for the weekend.

The Wildcats return to action this weekend, Feb. 18-19, as they host Kent State in a three-game series. The home opener features a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday and wraps up with a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m.