Burnham and McDowell Named First-Team Freshman All-Americans by D1Softball

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas Softball third baseman Ella McDowell and pitcher Payton Burnham were named First-Team Freshman All-Americans by D1Softball, the organization announced Thursday morning.

The duo was previously named Freshman All-Americans by Softball America on May 20. Arkansas and Oklahoma were the only two programs nationally to land multiple student-athletes on the first team.

Burnham led Arkansas with a 2.62 ERA, posting an impressive 16-2 record with 94 strikeouts and just 44 walks in 117.1 innings pitched while limiting opponents to a .217 batting average. During her freshman campaign, she became just the third Arkansas freshman since 2010 to throw multiple seven-inning complete game shutouts, joining Robyn Herron (2, 2023) and Mary Haff (8, 2018), after going the distance against LSU (6 K, 4 H, 2 BB) on May 3 and Ole Miss (7 K, 3 H, BB) on May 24 during game two of the Hogs’ Super Regional. Burnham also became the first Razorback in program history to throw a no-hitter in an NCAA Tournament game in a 10-0 win over Saint Louis on May 16. Her 16 wins this season were the most by a Razorback freshman since Mary Haff’s 29 in 2017.

McDowell made an immediate impact in her rookie campaign, batting .352 with 63 hits, 10 doubles, a triple, seven home runs, 54 RBI and 21 walks to go along with a .425 on-base percentage and a .961 OPS. She was among the Arkansas leaders in hits (2nd, 63), assists (2nd, 79) and home runs (T-3rd, 7). She registered 18 multi-hit games and 14 multi-RBI games while posting a 16-game reached base streak and a seven-game hitting streak during the season. Defensively, she started the season on a 29-game errorless streak and posted a .969 fielding percentage with 79 assists and 44 putouts in 127 chances. Her .352 batting average and .425 on-base percentage were the third highest by a freshman in program history (min. 100 AB).

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