Kelsey Nunley, Christian Stokes Selected in 2016 NPF Draft
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky softball seniors
Kelsey Nunley and Christian Stokes were selected in the 2016 National Pro
Fastpitch Draft on Thursday night, becoming the fourth and fifth draft picks in
Kentucky history and marking the first time ever that UK has had two players
drafted in the same year.
Nunley was the fifth overall pick of the draft
in the first round and was taken by the USSSA Pride based in Kissimmee, Fla.,
with Stokes picked No. 26 overall in the fourth round by expansion franchise, The
ScrapYard Dawgs based in The Woodlands, Texas.
Nunley and Stokes are the fourth and fifth Wildcat
players to ever be selected in the NPF Draft, joining All-American and current
assistant coach Molly Johnson-Belcher, who was selected second overall in
the 2010 draft, current graduate assistant coach Griffin Joiner, who was picked
19th overall by the Akron Racers in 2015, and All-Southeastern Conference
performer Megan Yocke, who went ninth overall in 2011.
Nunley has a 15-4 overall record in 2016 and
leads the Kentucky staff with over 120 strikeouts, in addition to being the
active innings pitched leader in the NCAA at the current time. She went the distance
Saturday and Monday, helping Kentucky earn two shutout wins over the No. 8 Tigers.
The Soddy Daisy, Tenn., native struck out over seven LSU batters on the weekend
and lowered her ERA on the season to 0.97. She was also named the Southeastern
Conference’s Pitcher of the Week on Monday for her efforts.
The senior sensation has appeared over 20
times in the circle this season for UK, and has 10 complete games pitched. She
has also recorded six shutouts and converted on her one save opportunity – at
No. 22 Arizona State. Nunley has thrown over 115 innings this season, only
allowing 16 earned runs and striking out 142 batters, while only walking 31.
Nunley is also a finalist for the 2016 Senior CLASS
Award, where fans can go online and vote for Nunley every day through the end
of the regular season once per day. Fan balloting counts for 1/3 of the total
with the remaining 2/3 determined by NCAA Division I coaches and national media
members.
Stokes is having the best year of her storied
career in Lexington in 2016, batting .334 with 10 extra base hits composed of
five home runs and five doubles. The South Carolina native started all
58 games of her junior season and all 69 games of her sophomore season with
Kentucky, scoring a team-high 38 runs in 2014. Stokes has two game-winning home
runs this season, belting a two-run bomb to beat No. 22 Arizona State on the
road in February, and then backed that up with a solo shot in the top of the
seventh to send Kentucky past Marshall in Huntington, W. Va.
She is known for her cannon arm at
the shortstop position, and currently is sporting a career fielding percentage
of .944 and was even featured on SportsCenter’s Top 10 earlier in the season
for a spectacular game-ending play against South Carolina in Columbia, S.C.
After a thrilling 2-1 win on Wednesday night
at John Cropp Stadium thanks to an Abbey Cheek two-run home run in the bottom
of the sixth, the No. 12 University of Kentucky softball team will welcome the
No. 18 Missouri Tigers to Lexington for a three-game series kicking off Friday
night at 6 p.m. ET.
For the latest on the Kentucky softball team, follow @UKSoftball on Twitter, Instagram
and Facebook, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.
