(Photo by August Jennewein)
University of Missouri–St. Louis junior pitcher Hannah Perryman is one of 25 student-athletes from across the country to be selected to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Top 25 List for the inaugural Schutt Sports/NFCA DII National Player of the Year award.
Behind the collaboration between the NFCA and the NCAA Division II Head Coaches Committee, and the generosity of Schutt Sports, the award was created to honor the outstanding athletic achievement among softball student-athletes throughout Division II.
Perryman was named to the 50-member watch list in February. When she was named to the Top 25 list, she was 17-2 in the circle with a 1.72 ERA. She led the NCAA Division II in strikeouts per seven innings at 13.6 and has struck out 221, which ranked fourth nationally. Perryman had recorded eight shutouts, which ranked eighth in DII and allowed just 4.25 hits per seven innings, which was 10th in the nation. Her 17 victories ranked 13th.
Perryman, a criminology and criminal justice major, was named the Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division II National Pitcher of the Week March 18 after tossing back-to-back perfect games in wins over Lake Superior State and McKendree. She had at the time three career perfect games, which tied for the second most in NCAA DII history and had six career no-hitters, which tied the fourth most in NCAA DII history.
Since it was announced late last week that Perryman had made the Top 25 List, she threw another perfect game. And she was named Great Lakes Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week.
Perryman, a two-time All-American and GLVC Pitcher of the Year, is UMSL’s career strikeouts leader (981), career wins leader (70) and career shutouts leader (27). She also ranks fifth in career ERA (1.45) and third in complete games (56).
This group of Top 25 student-athletes is represented by 20 different programs and 11 conferences. Fourteen from the original Top-50 “Watchlist” made the cut and are joined by 11 newcomers to the fold. The field consists of 23 upperclassmen, including 14 seniors, along with eight juniors and three sophomores.
The Top 10 finalists will be announced on April 30 and the Top 3 on May 14 with the 2015 Division II National Player of the Year revealed on Wednesday, May 20.
