AUBURN, Ala. – For the third straight season, Auburn is represented on the USA Softball Player of the Year Watch List as senior pitcher Makayla Martin was named to the Top 50 Watch List for the 2019 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, USA Softball announced Wednesday.
Martin, a San Diego, California native, enters the 2019 season with a 50-17 career record in 405.1 innings over 95 appearances, including 67 starts. She is 17 wins shy of tying Kaylee Carlson (2016-18) for the most wins in program history. Her 1.66 career ERA is second only to Carlson's 1.61's.
Last season, Martin appeared in 31 games, including 24 starts, and finished with a 15-7 record and a 1.36 ERA in 134.0 innings pitched. Her 1.36 ERA last season was the second-best single-season ERA in program history. She struck out 95 batters and issued only 33 walks, while allowing an opposing batting average of .202 on the season.
Martin, who was also named to the Preseason All-SEC team last week, is one of 24 senior players on the list with 16 juniors and 10 sophomores rounding out the list. Freshmen are ineligible for consideration. (However, freshmen can be considered for considered for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award once they have competed at the collegiate level.)
The Southeastern Conference claims the most representatives on the list with 13, while the Pac-12 Conference has 12.
The Top 25 Finalists for the 2019 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award will be announced April 24. While an athlete does not have to be on the "Watch List" to be considered for the Top 25, the eventual USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will come from the Top 25 Finalists. The Top 10 Finalists will be announced May 8 and the Top 3 announced May 22. The 2019 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will be revealed May 28.
To see the rest of the watch list, click here.