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Oklahoma's Ella Parker Lands SEC Award

Parker brought home her first honor as a member of the Southeastern Conference with her dazzling debut during the Sooners' opening trip to California.
John Hoover|
Oklahoma slugger Ella Parker
Oklahoma slugger Ella Parker | NATHAN J. FISH/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

By OU Media Relations

NORMAN — Oklahoma sophomore Ella Parker was named Southeastern Conference Softball Co-Player of the Week as announced Monday by the league office.

The weekly honor is the first of Parker's career and the first SEC Player of the Week honor in OU softball history. Parker was selected alongside Auburn’s Nelia Peralta.

Parker helped the Sooners go 6-0 during their trip to California, hitting .591 (13-for-22), with 10 runs, five doubles, one home run, eight RBIs, three walks and three stolen bases. Her home run came in a return to her hometown as she clubbed a solo shot to center at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles.

The left-handed hitter made starts at both corner outfield positions as well as at designated player, converting on all nine of her chances with the glove.

Parker scored twice in five games, tallying a .955 slugging percentage and a .679 on-base percentage. She doubled twice in the season opener against Cal State Northridge, while also driving in three. Sunday at Long Beach State she added an insurance run with an RBI single in the top of the 11th inning.

She is tied with Ashley Giampolo of Siena for the most doubles in the nation (five), while her 13 hits are tied with Grand Canyon's Savanna Groshong-Kirk for the most in the country.

The No. 2 Sooners stay on the road this weekend when they go to Baylor for four games at the Getterman Classic. OU plays Hofstra and Baylor once each on Saturday and Sunday. 

Published | Modified
John E. Hoover
JOHN HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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