TEMPE – Arizona State University softball senior Amber Freeman was selected as the third round of the 2015 National Pro Fastpitch League Draft, taken 11th overall by the USSSA Pride on Wednesday evening at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tenn.
Freeman became the sixth Sun Devil in program history to be selected in the NPF Draft, following the likes of Katie Burkhart, Kaitlin Cochran, Hilary Bach, Dallas Escobedo and Cheyenne Coyle.
The Pride are the back-to-back defending NPF Champions, taking the 2014 Cowles Cup for the second season in a row after finishing the year as the NPF regular season champions.
Congrats to our girl @A_Freeman9, selected 11th by the @USSSAPride in the @profastpitch draft! #NextLevelDevil pic.twitter.com/04uzqvd0Sh
— Sun Devil Softball (@ASUSoftball) April 2, 2015
In Amber Freeman, the Pride picked up one of the top hitters in Arizona State history, a two-time All-American and the 2013 Pac-12 Player of the Year.
Freeman currently ranks fourth in ASU history with 51 career home runs, one of just four Sun Devil to ever reach the 50-home run milestone. She is fifth in ASU lore with 180 career RBI and ninth in program history with 232 hits. She also has moved into a tie for fifth all-tume with 43 career doubles – including a career high 13 this season.
Freeman is currently batting .404 in 2015, helping the Sun Devils to a 24-11 record and a 5-3 mark in conference play. She leads the team with 10 home runs on the season with 34 RBI.
She was one of 50 selections to the 2015 USA Softball National Player of the Year Preseason Watch List and is one of 25 candidates for the 2015 Senior CLASS Award, given annually to the seniors who show exemplary qualities on and off the softball diamond.
A 2014 Academic All-American and two-time Pac-12 All-Academic Selection boasted a 3.43 GPA in health sciences following the 2014 season.
The NPF College Draft featured four rounds of five selections (with Freeman being the first selection of the third round), one round of six and one round of seven picks for a total of 33 overall draftees in the 2015 rookie class. Drafting an athlete gives an NPF affiliate team rights to that athlete for two full seasons.
Due to NCAA regulations, an active college senior-athlete may not sign with her respective franchise until their 2015 college season is over.
The Sun Devils return to action on Monday for a rare road doubleheader in Las Cruces, N.M., against New Mexico State before heading further east for another doubleheader against UTEP in El Paso, Texas, on Tuesday, April 7. The Devils will then hop on a flight to the Pacific Northwest on Thursday for a three-game series against No. 1 Oregon in Eugene beginning Friday, April 10.
About National Pro Fastpitch National Pro Fastpitch is headquartered in Nashville, Tenn. The league, created to give elite female fastpitch players the opportunity to pursue a professional career in their chosen sport, has operated since 1997 under the names of Women’s Pro Fastpitch (WPF) and Women’s Pro Softball League (WPSL). NPF is the Official Development Partner of Major League Baseball in the category of women’s fastpitch softball since 2002.