Allister Named Coach of the YearAllister Named Coach of the Year
Karen Ambrose Hickey/Stanford Athletics
Softball

Allister Named Coach of the Year

Pac-12 Release Opens in a new window

STANFORD, Calif. - Second-year head coach Jessica Allister has been named Pac-12 Coach of the Year, it was announced by the conference office on Wednesday.

Allister is the second Stanford coach to garner the award, joining John Rittman who earned selections in 2001 and 2004.

In addition to the yearly award winners, the Pac-12 also announced the 2019 All-Conference teams. The Cardinal placed four players on the All-Conference squads, while also garnering two All-Freshman team selections.

Juniors Teaghan Cowles and Kristina Inouye highlight the list of All-Conference selections for Stanford, with each earning a spot on the second team. The two second-team selections are the most for the Card since Kylie Sorenson and Leah White earned second-team honors in 2014.

Cowles leads the team and is 10th in the Pac-12 in average, hitting .390 with 33 runs scored, 10 doubles, five triples, six homers and 19 RBI. The native of Ridgefield, Wash. has amassed a team-best 19 multi-hit games, and has hit safely in 36 of 47 games this year, including 30 of the last 37 overall. The two-time Pac-12 Player of the Week also garnered Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Player of the Week on March 5 after hitting .818 with an .889 OB% and 1.455 SLG% at the Stanford Invitational.

Inouye is the team leader in RBI with 31, and has amassed eight multi-RBI games so far this year. Placing second on the team with 11 multi-hit games, she is batting .296 with 18 runs scored, three doubles, four triples and three home runs. Stanford's starting third baseman has also managed 16 walks and four hit-by-pitches to just 13 strikeouts.

Stanford placed two more players on the third team, as senior Carolyn Lee and freshman Emily Young were lauded. Young also earned a spot on the All-Freshman team, joined by Emily Schultz. Those selections mark the first All-Freshman team picks since Lee earned a spot in 2016. The last time Stanford had at least two All-Freshman honorees was 2014, as Sorenson, Madi Schreyer and Bessie Noll were each selected.

Lee ranks 12th in the Pac-12 in ERA, sporting a 3.37 mark to accompany an 11-7 record through 28 appearances and 26 starts. The native of San Ramon, Calif. ranks 10th in the conference in strikeouts (101), while her 11 wins place 11th overall. The team leader in innings pitched at 139, Lee has logged four-plus innings in 20 of her 26 starts this season.

Capturing the starting shortstop job in her inaugural season, Young has accumulated a .310 batting average with 33 runs scored, eight doubles, five triples and three home runs. The native of Mason, Ohio enters the final week of the regular season tied for second in the Pac-12 in triples (5). Named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week on March 5, she has batted .326 with four doubles, a triple and two home runs in Pac-12 play.

Proving to be one of the top hitters in Stanford's lineup, Schultz currently ranks third on the team in average (.318), and second in slugging percentage (.624) and on-base percentage (.443). The native of Aurora, Ill. has seen 16 of her 27 hits go for extra bases, including nine doubles, four triples and three home runs. Her four triples are tied for fourth-most in the Pac-12, while she owns eight multi-hit games and five multi-RBI contests.

Under Allister's guidance in 2018, Stanford finished the season with a 24-31 overall record and a 3-21 mark in the Pac-12 – the most overall and conference wins for the Cardinal since 2014. Picked to finish eighth in the preseason poll this season, Allister has guided her squad to another huge step forward in 2019. Currently sitting fifth in the Pac-12 standings, the Cardinal will close the season with its first winning record since 2014. This year's team also earned a national ranking (#22 according to Softball America) on March 5 for the first time since April 1, 2014. Boasting a pair of wins over top-10 opponents, the Cardinal has collected eight Pac-12 wins – more than the seven compiled over the previous four years combined. More notably, Stanford's 30-7 record to start the season was the best since opening 2010 with the same record, and its 32 wins are the most in a season since 2013 (39-21).

Stanford is preparing to close the regular season this weekend as it travels to No. 2 Washington for a three-game Pac-12 series beginning on Thursday at 7 p.m. The Cardinal made 16 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances from 1998 through 2013, including reaching the Women's College World Series in 2001 and 2004, but is seeking its first postseason berth since that 2013 campaign.