Hokies’ Angela Tincher named NCAA Softball Player of the Year

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Virginia Tech pitcher Angela Tincher was named the USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year on Tuesday night after leading the nation with a 0.62 ERA.
Tincher (38-8) led the Hokies to their first Women’s College World Series, where they will meet Texas A&M on Thursday. Tincher has 651 strikeouts in 329 innings, giving her an NCAA-best 14 strikeouts per game.
She ranks third in NCAA history with 2,121 strikeouts, putting her behind only U.S. Olympians Monica Abbott and Cat Osterman.
“It’s very exciting and right now I am just trying to let it sink in,” Tincher said.
“I am excited for our team mostly. If we had not had the success as a team this year, I don’t think I would have ever had this opportunity. We have great coaches and support staff behind us and this is such an honor.”
In March, Tincher threw a no-hitter in a 1-0 exhibition win by Virginia Tech against the U.S. national team. That snapped the U.S. team’s 185-game winning streak in pre-Olympic exhibitions.
Tennessee’s Tonya Callahan and Texas A&M’s Megan Gibson were the other finalists for the award.
Other past winners include Abbott (2007), Osterman (2003, 2005-06), Jessica Van der Linden (2004) and Stacey Nuveman (2002).