Ellis and McDowell Garner Weekly SEC and National Honors

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas first baseman Bri Ellis and infielder Ella McDowell have been named SEC Player of the Week and SEC Freshman of the Week, respectively, after their performances during the Razorbacks’ 3-1 showing that featured a series win at No. 2 Florida this past weekend, the league announced Tuesday afternoon.

In addition to the league honors, Ellis and McDowell were named Softball America Stars of the Week. McDowell was previously named D1 Softball National Freshman of the Week earlier this morning (April 8).

Ellis hit .667 during the Hogs’ four games while posting a .833 on-base percentage and 1.333 slugging percentage with six hits, two home runs, seven RBI, seven runs scored, two stolen bases and eight walks. She homered in each of the Hogs’ first two games of their highest-ranked series win in program history at No. 2 Florida while becoming just the second Razorback in program history to eclipse the 200 career RBI mark when counting stats at the previous institutions.

The Houston product is batting .511 this season with 46 hits, seven doubles, 20 home runs, 59 RBI, 46 runs scored, 36 walks, three stolen bases and 113 total bases while posting a 1.256 slugging percentage and .644 on-base percentage. She leads the nation in homers (20), RBI per game (1.59), on-base plus slugging percentage (1.900), and slugging percentage (1.333). Ellis also is among the nation’s leaders in batting average (.511, 3rd), on-base percentage (.644, 3rd), total bases (113, 4th), walks per game (0.97, 8th) and runs per game (9th, 1.24).

McDowell batted an astounding .706 during the week with 12 hits, three doubles, a home run, eight RBI, and four runs scored in addition to a walk. She posted a .722 on-base percentage and 1.059 on-base percentage while registering multiple hits in all four of the Razorbacks’ games to increase her hitting streak to six games while improving her batting average by 56 percentage points. During game two of last weekend’s series at No. 2 Florida, McDowell went 4-5 with four RBI, three of which came on a three-run homer in the top of the third inning. Her four hits were a single-game career high and marked the first four-hit game by a Razorback this season, while her four RBI tied a single-game career high. The Richmond, Texas product helped secure the Hogs’ highest-ranked series win in program history with two RBI doubles in Sunday’s 9-5 series finale win at No. 2 Florida, both of which came following intentional walks to Bri Ellis. Defensively, McDowell posted a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage with nine putouts and 11 assists.

McDowell has made an immediate impact during her first season on The Hill. She is batting .393 with 44 hits, six doubles, a triple, six home runs and 36 RBI in addition to 13 walks and 21 runs scored while posting a .462 on-base percentage and a .625 slugging percentage.

The selection marks the third consecutive week a Razorbacks freshman has received the SEC Freshman of the Week honors as Payton Burnham previously did on March 25 after throwing 6.1 shutout innings in which she struck out five batters and allowed just three hits and three walks in a series-clinching win at No. 7 Tennessee and McDowell did so on April 1 after posting a .429 batting average during the weekend with three hits, a home run, three RBI, two walks, and a run scored during a series sweep against Kentucky. With the consecutive selections, McDowell became the first Razorback in program history to earn back-to-back SEC Freshman of the Week honors.

No. 10/12 Arkansas is 29-8 (8-7 SEC) this season and will be back in action this weekend when the Hogs host No. 10/11 South Carolina. The first pitch is set for 6 p.m. on Friday, 7 p.m. on Saturday, and 1 p.m. on Sunday. Friday and Sunday’s matchups will be on SEC Network+, while Saturday’s contest is set for SEC Network.

For schedule updates and other news, go to ArkansasRazorbacks.com or follow @RazorbackSB on X, Instagram and Facebook.