Viviana Martinez Named to Women's National Team
For the past four years, a Texas Longhorn softball student-athlete has been selected to represent the United States in the Women's National Team (WNT): Janae Jefferson (2022) and Cat Osterman (2019-21). The streak will continue this year when freshman shortstop and second baseman Viviana Martinez makes her way to Japan to compete in the 2023 Japan All-Star Series, announced on Thursday by USA Softball.
The three-game series tournament will take place in various cities in Japan from Aug. 4-7: Fukushima at the Azuma Stadium (Tokyo Olympic Games softball venue), Iwakuni at the Kizuma Stadium (pre-Olympic training facility), and Yokohama at Yokohama Stadium (Tokyo Olympic Games softball venue).
The United States Women's National Team consists of 16 college softball student-athletes who will match up to play world-ranked No. 2 Japan.
The evaluations and decisions as to who will represent the United States in the WNT are based on the Women’s National Team Selection Committee which perform ongoing evaluations of the student-athletes at the college level. USA Softball National Team trials, events, and camps are also used to formulate a decision.
Martinez was selected to the All-Big 12 Freshman Team after setting the Texas softball RBI program record in a single season by a first-year student-athlete. She racked up 52 RBIs in her first year on the Forty Acres.
As a true freshman, Martinez was credited 100 or more total bases while racking up 65 hits and made her way to home plate 33 times. In 61 games played wearing burnt orange, Martinez made 188 plate appearances and slashed .346/.391/.532.
You can follow Tori Garcia on Twitter @ToriCGarcia
Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Longhorns? Click Here to Subscribe to the Longhorns Country Newsletter
Want even more Texas Longhorns? Check out the SI.com team page here
Follow Longhorns Country on Twitter and Facebook.
Make sure to subscribe to the Longhorns Country Podcast today! Click here To Listen.