Lauren Elizabeth Anna Haeger
(born September 3, 1992) is an American professional softball pitcher and first baseman with the
Dallas Charge of
National Pro Fastpitch
National Pro Fastpitch (NPF), formerly the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL), was a professional women's softball league in the United States. The teams battled for the Cowles Cup.
The WPSL was founded in 1997 and folded in 2001; the NPF revive ...
(NPF). After being named a member of the 2011
MaxPreps
MaxPreps is an American website that specializes in coverage of American high school sports. The site is currently owned by PlayOn. Founded on August 1, 2002, the company has covered up to 29 sports, including boys, girls, and co-ed sports.
...
Softball All-American Team and earning a gold medal at the III Pan American (18-under) Games in 2010, Haegar played softball at the
University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...
.
She was the third collegiate softball player to be recognized as both the Most Outstanding Player of the
Women's College World Series
The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States and is held annually in Oklahoma City, OK. The event is held at Devon Park (stadium), Devon Park loca ...
and the
USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year
The USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year is an award given by USA Softball to the best college softball
College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United St ...
. In 2015, she became the first player in the history of college softball to record 70
home run
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...
s as a hitter and 70 wins as a pitcher; no other player has registered even 60 home runs and 60 wins. Haeger was drafted by the Dallas Charge in the 2015 NPF Draft and reported to the team that June.
Early life
Haeger was born in
Peoria, Arizona
Peoria ( ) is a city in Maricopa and Yavapai counties in the U.S. state of Arizona. Most of the city is located in Maricopa County, while a portion of it in the north is in Yavapai County. It is a major suburb of Phoenix. As of the 2020 cens ...
, to Fred and Kathleen Haeger. She had a brother named Matthew.
[ Her father is an assistant softball coach at Deer Valley High School. At Deer Valley, Haeger played one year and lettered in basketball and played all four years of both volleyball and softball.
Haeger broke Arizona's state hitting record with 48 home runs in one season and was named to the 2011 ]MaxPreps
MaxPreps is an American website that specializes in coverage of American high school sports. The site is currently owned by PlayOn. Founded on August 1, 2002, the company has covered up to 29 sports, including boys, girls, and co-ed sports.
...
Softball All-American Team. She received First Team All-State honors in two seasons. Haeger pitched for Team USA in the III Pan American Championships in 2010, where she hit for a .400 batting average
Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic.
Cricket
In cricket, a player's batting average is ...
. She was on the International Softball Federation
Map of member states., 400px, right
The International Softball Federation (ISF) is the former international governing body for the sport of softball with its world headquarters and training centre at Plant City, Florida. The ISF is a non-profit ...
championship team, hitting .500 with eight RBIs.[Lauren Haeger]
Team USA. Retrieved December 4, 2015.[Lauren Haeger]
Gatorzone.com. University Athletic Association
The University Athletic Association (UAA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III. Member schools are highly selective universities located in Georgia, Illino ...
. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
College
Haeger began her career at the University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...
in 2011 with a 15-5 win–loss record Win–loss may refer to:
* Win–loss analytics, analysis of the reasons why a visitor to a website was or wasn't persuaded to engage in a desired action
* Win–loss record, also winning percentage
* Win–loss record (pitching), the number of ...
in her 27 appearances, throwing 6 shutouts. She was named the first team utility/pitcher for NFCA All-Southeast Region and ranked seventh in the Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...
(SEC) with a 1.85 earned run average
In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...
(ERA) and 129 strikeouts during her 124.2 innings. At the plate, Haeger led her team with ten doubles, 14 home runs, 52 RBIs, 36 walks, and a consecutive on-base streak of 18.[
Following her 2012 SEC All-Tournament Team and All-Freshman selection, Haeger went 16–2 with 119 strikeouts in 128.1 innings and an ERA of 2.35. She also set a career high of innings pitched with 7.2 against the ]University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...
on March 16. She won six games against Top 25 teams. Haeger was ranked seventeenth in the country for home runs, with a team high 18 and batted .319 with 70 RBIs, 46 walks, and an on-base streak of 24 games, a team best. She led the SEC in RBIs and was third in walks. She also set the University of Florida's record for the most intentional walks in a season (5) and the single game RBI record (7) against their rival University of South Florida
The University of South Florida (USF) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, ...
at Regionals. To close out her sophomore season, Haeger was named First Team All-SEC and First Team NFCA All-Southeast Region, along with her first All-American
The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...
title.[
As a junior, Haeger remained consistent with 24 circle appearances and 13 starts. She ended the season with a record of 10-3 and ranked fourth with an ERA of 1.79. Haeger also pitched 98 innings with 69 strikeouts, an opponent's batting average of .190, and a ]no-hitter
In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit (baseball), hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in ...
against the University of Wisconsin
A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...
on February 9, allowing only three walks while striking out 11. She remained a force at the plate all season, leading the Gators to victory in the 2014 Women's College World Series. Haeger again received First Team NFCA All-Southeast Region honors and batted .317 with six doubles, leading her team in RBIs (67) and walks (43).[
In her final season as a Gator, Haeger finished with an overall record of 32–2 with her lowest collegiate ERA of 1.23, ranked fourth in the country, and 24 consecutive victories, another Gator record. She also beat her previous home run record of 18, hitting 19 that year. Haeger also set both the regular season career home run record (66), with a grand slam against the ]University of Georgia
The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...
, and the all-time RBI record (222), which occurred on March 6 against the University of Arizona
The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...
. She became the only collegiate pitcher in history to win 70+ games and to hit 70+ home runs. Before Haeger, no player but Babe Ruth and her had won 60 games and hit 60 home runs. Haeger was 15th in the country with 71 RBIs and she hit .433 during the 2015 NCAA Division I Softball Championship
The NCAA Division I softball tournament is held annually in May/June and features 64 college softball teams in the United States, culminating in the Women's College World Series (WCWS), which is played in Oklahoma City.
Tournament play and team ...
.[
Haeger was nominated for ]ESPY Award
The ESPY Awards (short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards, and often referred to as the ESPYs) is an annual American awards show produced by ESPN since 1993, recognizing individual and team athletic achievement and other sports-r ...
s in the Best Female Collegiate Athlete and Best Championship Performance categories in 2015. She joined Danielle Lawrie
Danielle Elaine Lawrie (born April 11, 1987) is a Canadian, former collegiate All-American, medal-winning Olympian, professional All-Star softball pitcher and current sports commentator. Lawrie played college softball at Washington, in which s ...
and Keilani Ricketts as the only players in college softball history to receive both the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year and Women's College World Series Most Outstanding Player. She won the Honda Sports Award for Softball, SEC Female Athlete of the Year and SEC Pitcher of the Year, and was NFCA All-Southeast Region for the third year in a row.[Lauren Haeger up for two awards at 2015 ESPYS]
GatorZone.com. June 24, 2015. Retrieved December 4, 2015. Haeger is ranked amongst the all-time leaders in ERA and wins.[Lauren Haeger named 2015 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year]
Team USA. May 27, 2015. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
Professional career
Haeger plays professional softball with the Dallas Charge of National Pro Fastpitch
National Pro Fastpitch (NPF), formerly the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL), was a professional women's softball league in the United States. The teams battled for the Cowles Cup.
The WPSL was founded in 1997 and folded in 2001; the NPF revive ...
.[ She was selected with the 21st pick of the 2015 NPF College Draft.] She finished her first season with a batting average of .206 in 35 games. She had an ERA of 3.01 and led the team's pitchers with six wins, 86 strikeouts, 19 games pitched and innings pitched.
On August 11, 2016, Lauren Haeger pitched a no-hitter, beating the Chicago Bandits
The Chicago Bandits were a women's professional softball team based in Rosemont, Illinois. Since the 2005 season, they have played as a member of National Pro Fastpitch (NPF). The Bandits won the 2008 NPF championship, defeating the Washington ...
5–0. The only Bandit to reach base did so via a Charge fielding error.
Personal life
Haeger's favorite athletes are Tim Tebow
Timothy Richard Tebow (; born August 14, 1987) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for three seasons, primarily with the Denver Broncos. Tebow played college football for t ...
, Michael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...
, and Albert Pujols
José Alberto Pujols Alcántara (, ; born December 11, 1985) is a Dominicans, Dominican professional baseball Manager (baseball), manager and former first baseman and designated hitter who is the manager of the Leones del Escogido of the Domin ...
.[ She also has a tattoo of a sunflower on her arm to honor Heather Braswell, an honorary member of the Gators softball team who died several years after being diagnosed with ]brain cancer
A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign (non-cance ...
.[Hutchins, Andy (September 8, 2015)]
Florida's Lauren Haeger adds sunflower to tattoo to honor Heather Braswell
Alligator Army. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
Career statistics
Professional (NPF)
College
High school
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haeger, Lauren
1992 births
Living people
Florida Gators softball players
Sportspeople from Glendale, Arizona
Softball players from Arizona
Scrap Yard Dawgs players
Women's College World Series Most Outstanding Player Award winners
Southeastern Conference Athlete of the Year winners