FRESNO, Calif. Less than a week after earning All-America honors in the classroom and on the field to close out a stellar four-year career at Fresno State, pitcher/utility player Jamie Southern (Clovis, Calif.) has signed a professional contract to play for the Akron Racers of the National Pro Fastpitch.
As the Racers first round draft choice and the No. 5 pick overall in the NPF senior draft on Feb. 7, Southern will be the seventh Bulldog to play professionally. While 20 Bulldogs have been drafted since 1996, Southern became the program's sixth first round draft selection overall four months ago.
As a Bulldog, honors for Southern include her being a four-time All-American, a four-time National Player of the Year Top 10 finalist, a four-time Western Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year, a two-time NCAA ERA statistical champion, a two-time Academic All-American and a Honda Awards and USA Softball Player of the Year Softball finalist.
She also finished her stellar career by ranking in nine of the 11 NCAA Division I all-time pitching marks as well as ranking among the top three in ERA all four years. Nationally ranked every week all four years in ERA, Southern also holds 11 school and all six WAC pitching marks. As one of only four NCAA Division I pitchers to amass 75-plus career shutouts, Southern became the 10th NCAA Division I hurler to amass 1,300 career strikeouts and to post118 career wins.
While the second season of the NPF just got underway last week, Southern is expected to report to the Racers (www.akronracers.org) on June 19 after trying out for the USA National Team.
Currently, Southern, along with former Bulldog and three-time Olympic gold medalist Laura Berg (Santa Fe Springs, Calif.), are in Chula Vista, Calif., participating in the 2005 International Sports Invitational. Representing the United States, both will play in a four-nation tournament (Australia, Canada, China and USA) starting today at the U.S. Olympic Training Center. The following week, June 13-17, the 2005 Women's National Team Selection Camp also will be held in Chula Vista. An 18-member national team and a 16-member elite team will be selected from this camp to represent the United States in various international events in 2005.