@MizzouSoftball’s Burnside Named Louisville Slugger/NFCA & USA Softball National Player of the Week
3/21/2017 11:44:00 AM | Softball
First-year Tiger was also honored by SEC earlier Tuesday afternoon
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Softball freshman SS Braxton Burnside (Paragould, Ark.) added to her impressive accolades Tuesday (March 21) afternoon, following her historical week at the plate. She was selected as the Week Six Louisville Slugger / NFCA Division I National Player of the Week, as well as the Week Six USA Softball Collegiate National Co-Player of the Week.
Earlier Tuesday, the first-year Tiger also garnered Week Six Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week honors.
"It's an honor to receive these awards," Burnside said. "I want to give a big thank you to my teammates, because I couldn't have done this without every one of them."
"I'm very happy for Braxton and her earning these recognitions," head coach Ehren Earleywine said. "It's a well-deserved honor. She's so talented and remains humble through it all."
This past week (March 13-19), Burnside produced one of the most historic stretches at the plate in Mizzou, SEC and NCAA Softball history. Overall, she tallied a team-high 12 hits, three home runs, 18 RBI, 24 total bases and 1.091 slugging percentage over the Tigers' outstanding 6-1 stretch.
Burnside's premier game occurred vs. North Dakota State (March 18) at the South Florida Tournament, as she went 3-for-5 with a triple, two grand slams and 10 RBI. Her 10 RBI set a new Mizzou Softball 43-year program record, surpassing Tiffany Heick's old mark of nine (Feb. 27, 1993).
Additionally, Burnside tied the SEC's 21-year history of most individual RBI in a single game. Burnside is now only one of three all-time SEC players to record 10 RBI in a game. Her 10 runners driven in are the most RBI in a single game this year by an SEC player, surpassing the previous standard of six.
Nationally, Burnside's 10 RBI are the second-most single-game RBI by anyone in the NCAA this season, trailing only Marist's Rebecca Freeman's 11 RBI output versus Savannah State (Feb. 26).
Keying the double-digit RBIs against the Bison was her two grand slams in consecutive innings. Burnside's impressive power display marked the first time an SEC player had hit two grand slams in one game this year. Historically, she became only the 12th player in NCAA Division I history to launch a pair of grand slams in a single game.
Burnside has made an immediate impact in her first year at Mizzou. Her nine home runs, 37 RBI, .795 slugging percentage and 70 total bases this season leads all SEC freshmen. Her 37 runs driven in also paces all first-year players in the NCAA.
Nationally, her 37 RBI (7th), 1.32 RBI per game (12th), nine home runs (15th) and 70 total bases (16th) all rank among the country's best.
Burnside enters this weekend's trip to No. 7 Texas A&M (March 24-26) riding a 12-game hitting streak, tops this season among Mizzou batters. During the current hitting streak, she's hitting .459 (17-for-37) with nine runs, three doubles, one triple, three home runs, 20 RBI, 31 total bases, .838 slugging percentage, .488 on-base percentage and 1.326 OPS.
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