Haff named top finalist for Freshman of Year award

COLUMBIA, Mo. — On the heels of earning all-conference honors, Arkansas pitcher Mary Haff has earned a spot on the top-10 finalists list for the 2018 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year.

Through 38 appearances, Haff carries a 25-6 record in the circle with a 1.49 ERA and 223 strikeouts in 183.0 innings of work.

The top-three finalists for the prestigious award will be announced May 23. Haff is one of three pitchers on the list and one of two freshmen representatives from the SEC.

In her last outing, Haff tallied her 17th complete game of the season in a 3-1 win over No. 19 Kentucky in the opening round of the SEC Tournament in Columbia, Missouri. She struck out five Wildcat hitters along the way.

The victory snapped Arkansas’ eight-game SEC Tournament losing streak and set up a Thursday matchup with No. 8 Georgia at 1:30 p.m. The game will be televised on the SEC Network.

Haff is tied for first in the SEC and tied for fourth nationally with 25 victories, one shy of the program’s single-season record set by Heather Schlichtman in 2001.

Her 223 strikeouts are second in the SEC and rank among the top 20 in the NCAA this season. That figure is a program freshman-class record and sits third on Arkansas’ single-season list. Haff is also fourth in the SEC with a .154 opponent batting average.

Earlier this week, Haff was named to the All-SEC Second Team and SEC All-Freshman Team.

She became the fifth pitcher in program history to earn All-SEC honors and the second consecutive to earn all-freshman accolades; teammate Autumn Storms was an SEC All-Freshman Team member in 2017.

Haff is also a three-time SEC Freshman of the Week.