Feb. 4, 2013
OKLAHOMA CITY - San Diego State junior Hayley Miles (Antelope, Calif.) has been named to the 2013 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Watch List, the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America and USA Softball announced on Friday. She joins Erin Floros (2007) as the only Aztecs to ever be named to the preseason watch list.
Previous recipients of the award, the most prestigious individual honor in NCAA Division I softball, include UCLA catcher and current Aztec assistant head coach Stacey Nuveman Deniz (2002), Texas pitcher Cat Osterman (2003, 2005 and 2006), Tennessee pitcher Monica Abbott (2007), Washington pitcher Danielle Lawrie (2009 and 2010) and Stanford shortstop Ashley Hansen (2011), among others. Last year's winner was Oklahoma's Keilani Ricketts, who is also on this year's watch list.
Last year, Miles was named a second-team Easton All-American, third-team NFCA All-American, second-team NFCA All-West Region selection and the MW Co-Player of the Year after shattering 11 school single-season records, all from the leadoff spot. Those records included batting average (.429, previous best was .389), on-base percentage (.519, previous best was .467), slugging percentage (.909, previous best was .633), OPS percentage (1.428, previous best was 1.053), runs (62, previous best was 41), extra-base hits (42, previous best was 25), doubles (20, previous best was 14), home runs (20, previous best was 15), RBIs (49, previous best was 48), total bases (159, previous best was 102) and walks (34, previous best was 28).
Miles already owns five SDSU career records after just two seasons, including batting average (.389), on-base percentage (.482), slugging percentage (.738), OPS percentage (1.220) and extra-base hits (61). She's also second in home runs (25), fifth in doubles (31), sixth in runs (95) and total bases (245) and ninth in walks (56).
Miles is one of just 23 non-seniors on the 2013 preseason watch list and one of two from the Mountain West.
The top-25 finalists for the 2013 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award will be announced April 10. 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 with the final three coming on May 22. On May 28 prior to the start of the 2013 NCAA Women's College World Series (WCWS) in Oklahoma City, the 2013 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will be revealed.
San Diego State is coming off a 32-24 season in 2012, advancing to the NCAA tournament for a school-record fifth consecutive year and capturing its fifth Mountain West title. The Aztecs went 2-2 in the NCAA Los Angeles Regional before being eliminated in the regional championship game for the second straight year, falling just short of the NCAA Super Regionals (equivalent to the Sweet 16). SDSU finished with single-season program records in slugging percentage (.466), doubles (79), home runs (58), RBIs (237) and total bases (692), and received votes in both national polls.
San Diego State kicks off its 2013 slate in Tempe, Ariz., when it competes in Arizona State's Kajikawa Classic from Feb. 7-9. Two of the Aztecs' five games at the classic will be against 2012 NCAA tournament teams, including Northwestern (Feb. 8) and Women's College World Series qualifier Arizona (Feb. 9). SDSU will also play Creighton (Feb. 7), Stephen F. Austin (Feb. 8) and Western Michigan (Feb. 9).