Kelsey Bruder always told freshmen teammates their UF careers only got easier after year one.
“I might have weighed more than my batting average freshman year,” said the senior left fielder, in reference to her .133 mark.
Having completed a senior season in which she batted .387 with 19 homers and 71 RBIs, Bruder’s time at Florida received a final crown Tuesday.
The current member of National Pro Fastpitch’s USSSA Pride was honored with the 2011 Honda Sports Award for Softball.
The award is given to the nation’s top collegiate softball player as decided by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
“To be recognized as the best player in college softball seems absolutely surreal,” Bruder said in an official statement.
“Receiving this award would not have been possible without every single one of my teammates.”
The left fielder is UF’s first winner, and only the second Gators softball player — along with Stacey Nelson in 2009 — to be nominated for the award.
Bruder now becomes one of 12 candidates for the Honda-Broderick Cup, the trophy given each season to the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year.
Other finalists include Connecticut basketball player and 2010 winner Maya Moore and Notre Dame soccer star Melissa Henderson.
The Broderick Cup will be awarded at a New York ceremony on June 27.
“This is certainly one of the most prestigious awards that a student-athlete can receive in college athletics,” UF coach Tim Walton said in a statement.
“This is the exclamation point to a great collegiate career for Kelsey and her senior classmates who leave behind a legacy of greatness.”
A two-time All-American and 2011 Academic All-American, Bruder was at her best during Southeastern Conference play in 2011.
She led the SEC in runs, doubles, slugging percentage, hits, RBIs and home runs during league play.
The 79 runs she scored this season were a school record.
After a freshman season in which she got sparse playing time as a pitcher and designated player, Bruder bounced back her sophomore year to tie the school record for slugging percentage while batting .369 and starting all 68 games.
She beat out fellow nominees Ashley Hansen (Stanford), Jolene Henderson (California) and Chelsea Thomas (Missouri) to win college softball’s premier individual award.
Former Gator and U.S. Olympic swimmer Tracy Caulkins is the only UF athlete to win the Broderick Cup, taking the award in 1982 and 1984.
Neither Bruder, who was hospitalized Tuesday night with dehydration and a stomach illness, nor Walton could be reached for comment.
