Alyssa Denham

Photo by: Brad Kemp

Position:
Pitcher
Height:
6-2
Class:
Freshman
Hometown:
Alvin, Texas
High School:
Pearland HS

Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year (2017)
All-Sun Belt First Team (2017)
Louisiana Sports Writers Association Freshman of the Year (2017)
All-Louisiana Honorable Mention (2017)
NFCA Division l Freshman of the Year Top 25 Finalist (2017)

2017 (Freshman)
Top 25 finalist for NFCA Division I Freshman of the Year…finished debut collegiate season with a 15-2 mark and 2.27 ERA over 28 appearances (20 starts)…logged 129-2/3 innings in the circle and held foes to 53 runs (42 earned) and 99 hits…limited opposing batters to a .205 average…recorded two wins over Top 5 teams: No. 4 Alabama (two-hit shutout in series clincher) and No. 4 Texas A&M…produced 80 strikeouts, netting at least four strikeouts 11 times…held ERA at 2.00 or below through mid-April (first 21 appearances)…led all Sun Belt Conference freshmen pitchers in victories (7) during conference play…was second only to teammate Alex Stewart in opposing batting average in SBC games, holding foes to a .197 average…In all 12 Sun Belt regular season appearances (nine starts), held foes to three earned runs or less and yielded no more than five hits in all but one appearance…surrendered only one hit over six innings of work against Big 12-member Iowa State in collegiate debut on Feb. 10…pitched 12 innings and held No. 4 Alabama to two runs and five hits in weekend series (Feb. 18-19)…in the series-clinching win, held the Crimson Tide hitless over the final five innings of play and did not allow a runner to move past second base the entire contest…for her efforts against Alabama, was named Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week and USA Softball National Pitcher of the Week…one week later, hurled a three-hit shutout of the Big 10’s Maryland in the Mardi Gras Invitational (Feb. 25)….worked 38 innings in first month as collegian (February) and held foes to 10 runs, 21 hits and .159 average, landing her LSWA Pitcher of the Month accolades…reached five strikeouts for the first time in her career in complete-game victory over North Dakota State (Mar. 3)…entered in relief three batters into the game against No. 15 Baylor on Mar. 9 at Lamson Park and held the Bears to one run and three hits through the end of the sixth inning battling against BU’s Kelsee Selman…in her first career Sun Belt Conference series, yielded just seven hits, allowed only four runs (three earned) and struck out 14 batters in 13 innings vs. UTA (Mar. 18-19)…recorded her top two strikeout performances of the season against UTA (season-high eight in Game 2 on Saturday and six more in series finale)…recorded back-to-back strikeouts with the bases loaded in third inning of relief effort in series finale at South Alabama…took over with bases loaded and no outs in the sixth inning at Georgia Southern and retired the next three hitters to preserve the four-run margin and pitched the seventh inning to capture her first career save…earned Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week following Texas State series (Apr. 14-15), after tossing 14 innings total and limiting the Bobcats to two runs and six hits as the Cajuns won a key series on the way to the conference championship…limited No. 4 Texas A&M to two runs while the offense built the sizeable margin over the first three innings on the way to the road win in College Station…debuted in NCAA Tournament with relief efforts in both games of the championship round vs. No. 18 LSU at the Baton Rouge Regional...honored as Freshman of the Year by the Sun Belt Conference and Louisiana Sports Writers Association...was a first team selection on the All-Sun Belt team and honorable mention selection for All-Louisiana.

High School
Three-sport standout at Pearland High School, competing in volleyball, basketball and softball … played volleyball, basketball and softball as a freshman and varsity basketball and softball as a sophomore before focusing exclusively on softball final two seasons … honored as the All-Greater Houston Pitcher of the Year as a senior after finishing 22-4 with 230 strikeouts and an ERA below 1.00 … also named first team All-State, first team All-Region and to the Premier Girl’s Fastpitch (PGF) Southwest Regional All-American team … guided the Oilers to a second consecutive district title and a run to the Class 6A state championship game, the school’s first appearance since 2010 … As a junior in 2015, was named District 22-6A MVP and received first team all-state honors from the Texas Girls Coaches Association after posting a 21-2 record with 181 strikeouts over 132 innings pitched … In 2014, was named Newcomer of the Year and received first team all-district honors following a 16-win, 140-strikeout campaign … played travel ball for Houston Power, Katy Cruisers, Impact Gold and Aces Express Gold … playing a post position and at shooting guard, she totaled 161 points, 87 rebounds and 22 blocks, helping lead the Oilers basketball team to a 29-7 record and playoff appearance during sophomore year … played middle blocker in volleyball.

Personal
Born on March 24, 1998 in Webster, Texas … daughter of Steven and Kathy Denhman … has three older sisters: Stephenie, Jessica and Tiffany … all three sisters played softball at McNeese: Stephenie (2001-03), Jessica (2003-06) and Tiffany (2009-12) … first pitcher from Pearland HS to compete for the Ragin' Cajuns since Melissa Coronado (1999-2002) ... a kinesiology major with an emphasis on physical education … plans on being a physical education teacher.