May 14, 2006
Oklahoma City, Okla. - Helping the Missouri softball team to a third-place finish at this year's Big 12 Championships, sophomore softball pitcher Jen Bruck (St. Peters, Mo.) was named to the 2006 All-Tournament Team along with 11 other individuals representing six teams. The nod was Bruck's second of her career.
Bruck hurled five complete games at the Big 12 Championships, helping the seventh-seeded Tiger team to a 3-2 mark. From her work in the circle, Bruck struck out 19 batters and recorded her first solo shutout of the season (Nebraska, 3-0). Bruck finished the campaign with a 24-21 record and moved to fourth in the MU season record book alongside 2005 graduate Erin Kalka for appearances in a season (46) and eighth in the Missouri season wins book with 2001 graduate Stephanie Falk and 1988 graduate Sue Ann Wheeler (24).
At the plate, Bruck was an impressive 5-for-14 with a .357 batting average and .643 slugging percentage. The sophomore crushed her 10th home run of the season moving to first alongside teammate Micaela Minner and 1997 graduate Mary Babb in the Missouri career home run record book (26) and helped the Tigers take the early lead over second-seeded Nebraska Wednesday night. Bruck scored three of Missouri's 14 runs at the Big 12 Championships and notched four RBI. In Missouri's game against 16th-ranked Texas A&M, a team that had beaten the Tigers twice in regular season, Bruck was 3-for-4 at the plate, driving in Missouri's first run of the game with a single to right center.
The third place Tiger finish marked the third straight season in which a Missouri softball team finished among the top-four in competition. Missouri is one of only two schools, Oklahoma being the other, to accomplish such a feat.
2006 BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP ~ ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM Serena Settlemier, Kansas, P, Sr. (MVP) D.J. Mathis, Oklahoma, P, Fr. Kassie Humphreys, Kansas, P/1B, Jr. Jen Bruck, Missouri, P, So. Jessica Moppin, Kansas, 2B, Sr. Ashley DeBuhr, Nebraska, P, Jr. Kristin Vesely, Oklahoma, OF, Sr. Lacy Darity, Oklahoma State, OF, Sr. Amber Spaulding, Oklahoma, UT, Jr. Megan Gibson, Texas A&M, P/1B, So. Samantha Ricketts, Oklahoma, C, Fr. Jami Lobpries, Texas A&M, IF/OF, So.