Jayhawks Sweep Big 12 Player of the Week Honors
IRVING, Texas – After a perfect 4-0 weekend, Kansas softball swept the Big 12 Weekly honors for the week of March 8 as announced by the league on Tuesday afternoon. Senior shortstop Chaley Brickey was named the conference player of the week, while sophomore right-hander Andie Formby earned pitcher of the week accolades.
It marks the second Big 12 Weekly honor for Brickey and first for Formby. It is also the first time that the Jayhawks have swept the weekly awards in 2016.
Brickey led KU with eight hits and scored nine of the Jayhawks’ 25 runs at Southern Illinois’ Coach B Classic last weekend. Brickey batted .571 (8-for-14) with four extra-base hits, including a home run, and walked three times to reach base at a .647 clip.
Additionally, the Haltom City, Texas native swiped a bag and played flawless defense up the middle. Brickey had multi-hit games in each of the first three games before drawing a pair of walks and scoring three runs in the finale. It didn’t matter where head coach Megan Smith put her in the lineup, she produced, clubbing three doubles as the Jayhawks’ leadoff in the opener against Eastern Illinois, before smacking a home run in the second game while batting third.
Brickey leads the Big 12 in runs scored (22) and is tied for second in doubles (7) and home runs (5), while also ranking among the top 15 in batting average (.379). Brickey has a hit in 16 of KU’s 19 contests and has five multi-hit games already this season.
Formby seems to be settling into the circle for the Jayhawks after winning two decisions and posting a 0.91 ERA at Southern Illinois’ Coach B Classic over the weekend. She struck out 13 batters and walked just two in 15.1 innings while limiting opposing hitters to a .167 average.
The Orange, California native gave up just one extra-base hit in three appearances, a double. Formby didn’t start Saturday’s game against Butler but entered in the top of the first with two runners in scoring position and worked out of the jam with minimal damage and pitched 6.1 innings of relief as the Jayhawks rallied to win.
She struck out five in a complete game against Eastern Illinois on Sunday before throwing two scoreless innings of relief in game two. Formby ranks fifth in the Big 12 this season with 37 strikeouts in 43.0 innings pitched.
UP NEXT
Kansas returns to Rock Chalk Park after a 19-game road swing to host the Jayhawk Invitational March 12-14. KU welcomes Missouri State, Western Illinois, Nebraska Omaha and Northern Iowa for the tournament as KU plays the next nine of 10 games at home. The Jayhawks’ weekend finale against Nebraska Omaha will be the first of six televised games this season.
