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Oklahoma State University

Vanessa Shippy
Photo by: Charles Taylor

Shippy Earns Second Big 12 Weekly Honor

March 12, 2018 | Cowgirl Softball

IRVING, Texas – Oklahoma State softball standout Vanessa Shippy was named the Big 12 Player of the Week for the second time this season, it was announced by the league office on Monday.

Shippy previously earned the honor on February 12 after her performance at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Arizona. She is the first Cowgirl since Anna Whiddon in 2010 to earn multiple Big 12 weekly honors in the same season.

At the OSU Hall of Fame Classic in Oklahoma City this past weekend, Shippy continued to build on what has been an astronomical season thus far. She posted a 5-for-7 line at the plate, drew 10 walks, scored nine times, drove in four more runs and smacked three three-extra-base hits during the five-game tournament.

Shippy's five hits and four runs batted in during the OSU Hall of Fame Classic mark an impressive feat for the Cowgirl, as she became the sixth player in Big 12 history to record at least 225 career hits, 150 runs, 125 walks and 125 runs batted in. She is the first player to reach all four of those numbers since Lauren Chamberlain (Oklahoma, 2012-15) and the first player in OSU history to do so.

Perhaps the most impressive number from the senior's weekend though was that she reached base in each of her final 13 plate appearances and only failed to reach base on three of her 18 total trips to the plate. On one of those elusive occasions where she didn't reach base, Shippy still managed to advance a runner with a sacrifice bunt.

Shippy's walk rate was so high this past weekend that her seven official at-bats did not meet the 2.0 AB-per-game requirment to qualify for the Big 12's weekly batting leaders. Had she reached the 10 at-bat minimum, Shippy would've tied Baylor Jessie Scroggins for the league lead in batting average this week (.714), and would've also surpassed all other qualified performers in on-base percentage (.833) and slugging percentage (1.429).

Through five weeks of play, Shippy leads the Big 12 Conference and the nation in batting average (.561), on-base percentage (.717), walks (29) and runs scored (37). She also ranks third in the league in hits and slugging percentage (32 and .895), fifth in total bases (51), seventh in home runs (4) and ninth in runs batted in (20).

Shippy is blowing away the Big 12 field in walks, runs and on-base percentage as well.

Her 29 walks are nearly double the next-best Big 12 competitor, as Baylor's Goose McGlaun currently sits second with 15 walks to her credit. Shippy's 37 runs are also 12 more than any other player in the league this year and her .717 on-base percentage is 142 points higher than all other qualified Big 12 players.

As far as records go, Shippy's showcase in Oklahoma City raised her career batting average .399, leaving her just two points shy of cracking the top five in Big 12 history. Her 10-walk weekend also brought her career total to 149 and pushed her into sixth place in league history.

Shippy and the Cowgirls will return to action Tuesday night when they host Illinois State at 6 p.m. OSU will also travel to Central Arkansas on Wednesday to wrap up the squad's first pair of midweek games.

For more information on the Cowgirls, follow the team on Twitter (@CowgirlSB), Facebook (Cowgirl Softball) and Instagram (osusoftball).