Tulsa’s Creger strikes out 40 to earn USA Softball Collegiate National Player of the Week honors
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OKLAHOMA CITY — A perfect 3-0 record  with a 1.11 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 19.0 innings at the Aggie Classic in College Station, Texas over the weekend earned Tulsa senior starting pitcher Aimee Creger (Yukon, Okla.) this weeks USA Softball Collegiate National Player of the Week honors the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America and USA Softball announced today. The right hander helped her team improve to 9-1 on the season and move into the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 for the first time since Week 13 of last season.
“It’s very exciting to me,†said Creger, referring to being named USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Week.  “It gives me the determination to continue to do really well this season, so I can play with the (USA Softball Women’s National) team again this summer. I definitely could not do as well as I have been without my team, because they’ve been hitting well and playing great defense behind me. I have all the confidence in them, and they’re part of the reason why I’ve done so well.â€
Creger began her week by striking out 14 batters in a six inning complete-game, allowing just two hits in a 9-1 Tulsa win over the Pac-12’s Oregon State. In a rematch between the two teams on Saturday, the Oklahoma native improved on her performance from the previous day by striking out 15 Oregon State batters in a two-hit shutout. Creger allowed just one walk in the contest as Tulsa went on to a 4-0 victory.
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Her biggest test of the weekend came on Sunday when Creger and the Golden Hurricane took the field versus then-No. 11 Texas A&M. Aimee struck out 11 Aggie batters and allowed just two runs on four hits in six innings of work as she lead Tulsa to the 5-2 upset.
“I’m very proud of Aimee for getting this award. She has been spectacular in her career here at Tulsa,†said Tulsa Head Coach John Bargfeldt. “In her first two games last weekend, she was as dominant as I’ve seen her. To throw basically two complete games and then come out and still be sharp and have that much left in the tank – obviously the adrenaline gets going when you’re playing a good ranked team like Texas A&M. She was fired up and ready to go. She showed a lot of heart and guts to fight through. She definitely deserves all the accolades that come her way.â€
For the week, Creger allowed just three runs on eight hits with eight walks and a .125 opponent batting average while averaging 2.1 strikeouts per inning. In addition to being named the USA Softball Collegiate National Player of the Week, the senior earned her second consecutive Conference-USA Pitcher of the Week award. This is the first USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Week honor for a Golden Hurricane since Jackie Lawrence earned the award in Week 9 of the 2007 season. The Golden Hurricane return to action this weekend, Feb. 21-23, at the Georgia Tech/Kennesaw State Crossover Tournament.
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2014 USA Softball National Collegiate Players of the Week
Week 1 (Feb. 6-9): Kylee Lahners - Washington - Junior - Infielder– Laguna Hills, Calif.
Week 2 (Feb. 10 -16): Aimee Creger - Tulsa - Senior - Pitcher– Yukon, Okla.
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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 165,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than 2.5 million. For more information on the ASA, visit http://www.asasoftball.com/.
About USA SoftballÂ
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 six World Cup of Softball titles. For more information about USA Softball, please visit http://www.usasoftball.com. Â
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About the NCAA Women’s College World SeriesÂ
The ASA Hall of Fame Stadium serves as the home to the NCAA Women’s College World Series (WCWS). For the 24th year, the top eight college teams in the nation will head to Oklahoma City and complete for a National Championship title. Last year, over 70,000 fans attended the WCWS. Experience It Live May 29 to June 4 in Oklahoma City. Tickets for the 2014 NCAA WCWS are on sale now, click here to purchase your tickets and make a date with champions!
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Steven Embree | ASA/USA Softball
Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications
2801 NE 50th |Â Oklahoma City, OK 73111
Work:Â 405-425-3422 | Cell: 405-207-1004
E-mail: sembree@softball.org | Web: www.usasoftball.com
