Huskies Earn 11 Year-End Awards From Pac-12

SAN FRANCISCO - The Washington Huskies earned 11 awards from the Pac-12 Conference today as the year-end awards were announced. That is the most year-end awards for Washington since 2010, when the Huskies earned 13 such awards. Washington saw eight different Huskies earn recognition from the Pac-12, including Defensive Player of the Year for Sis Bates and Pitcher of the Year for Gabbie Plain.

Defensive Player of the Year | Pitcher of the Year

Four different Huskies earned All-Pac-12 First Team, the third consecutive year Washington has had four or more All-Pac-12 First Team honors and the 12th consecutive year Washington has earned multiple such honors. Bates, Plain, Morganne Flores, and Baylee Klingler all earned All-Pac-12 First Team this year. For Bates and Plain, this is their third consecutive All-Pac-12 First Team award. This is the second First Team honor for Flores and first for Klingler.

This year, Flores cemented her legacy with the Huskies, moving to third in Washington history in home runs. She hit double-digit homers for the third time in her career and needs just three RBI in the final weekend of the regular season and postseason to reach the 50-RBI threshhold for the third time. Flores is in third in Husky history in RBI, one behind Kristen Rivera for second and 11 behind Jaime Clark for the all-time record. In Pac-12 play, Flores is second in RBI with 22 and has hit five home runs.

Klingler is the only player ahead of Flores in Pac-12 RBI, driving in 23 runs in conference games. Klingler is the first player in the Pac-12 to reach 50 runs scored and 50 RBI this season, becoming the first Husky to do so since Ali Aguilar in 2017. She leads the Pac-12 in overall runs scored and is second in both home runs and RBI. Klingler is also second in batting average and on-base percentage in the Pac-12 and third in slugging: she is the only player slashing at least .400/.500/.800 and the only Pac-12 hitter hitting over .400 with a slugging percentage over .600.

Sami Reynolds earned All-Pac-12 Second Team for the Huskies. Reynolds has earned All-Pac-12 in each of her two seasons the award has been given, earning Third Team after her freshman season in 2019. Reynolds has twice earned Pac-12 Player of the Week this year, giving her three such honors in her career, the most in Husky history. She has 19 extra-base hits, including a career-high 11 home runs. Reynolds has scored a run and/or driven in a run in over half her 25 games against Pac-12 teams and now has 38 runs, a career best, and 36 RBI on the season.

Jadelyn Allchin, Kelley Lynch, and Sarah Willis were named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team. Only one other time has Washington had three players earn All-Freshman: in 2009, when Kimi Pohlman, Niki Williams, and Felecia Harris did so. Lynch has earned four Pac-12 Freshman of the Week awards in her career, the most by any Husky ever. At the plate, Lynch has 15 extra-base hits and 21 walks, showing patience and pop. In the circle, Lynch has thrown 50+ innings for the Huskies, striking out 68 batters. Lynch has also made just two errors despite playing in all 48 games thus far, good for a .992 fielding percentage.

Allchin has shone in centerfield this year, setting new career highs across the board in her second season as a Husky. She has seven multi-hit games, including a 4-for-4 day against Utah Valley that saw her hit two home runs and come just a triple away from the cycle. Allchin has solidified a dangerous bottom of the order for the Huskies: when hitting ninth, Allchin has hit .405/.439/.595, with ten runs and eight RBI in 15 games.

Willis began the year showing her pitching acumen, with over half her appearances in the circle seeing her allowing no earned runs. Opposing hitters have hit just .237 against Willis. Earlier this year, she earned back-to-back saves, the first freshman since 2011 to have multiple saves for the Huskies and the second ever to have saves in back-to-back appearances. At the plate, Willis has put together a six-game hitting streak, the longest by a freshman since Reynolds' seven-game streak in 2019. She has five extra-base hits in just 17 at-bats and has scored a run in six of the seven games she has a plate appearance.

In addition to her Defensive Player of the Year award, Bates was also named the Pac-12's All-Defensive Team. Washington has had its shortstop earn All-Defensive honors from the Pac-12 for four consecutive years now: Bates has earned this honor in 2018, 2019, and 2021, with Ali Aguilar earning the award in 2017.

Make sure to follow the Huskies on social media at @UWSoftball.