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Career Honors & Awards
- Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award (2012)
- Academic All-Big Ten (2012)
- Academic All-Big 12 First Team (2011)
- Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll (Fall 2011, 2012; Spring 2012)
- Four-Time Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll Selection
Career Capsule
Megan Southworth entered the Husker program as a catcher, but made the transition to the outfield during her freshman season. She adjusted well to the outfield, starting a team-high 28 games in left field as a sophomore in 2011. Southworth started only one game in the outfield last season, as Nebraska featured a deep and talented group of outfielders. Southworth put in extra work over the offseason to position herself to compete for a starting outfield spot in her final year, as the Huskers must replace two of their three starting outfielders from 2012.
Southworth’s ability with the bat may ultimately determine how many starts she earns. In her one year as a starter, Southworth put up solid numbers as a sophomore, batting .276 with four doubles and 10 RBIs in 76 at bats. She has also been productive in a pinch-hitting role, as she owns a .286 career average as a pinch hitter. Southworth went 3-for-9 as a pinch hitter last season. She owns eight career pinch hits and 28 career pinch-hit at bats, while the rest of the Husker roster has combined for two career pinch hits in 12 career pinch-hit at bats.
Junior Season [2012]
Southworth appeared in 19 games during her junior season, as she competed for playing time in a crowded Husker outfield that featured five returning players with starting experience, three returning all-conference performers and one freshman who was a first-team high school All-American. Southworth earned two starts in 2012, including one in left field against Cal State Northridge and one as the designated player against Texas State. She finished her junior season with four hits in 17 at bats, producing one double, one RBI and three runs scored. She added three walks and one hit-by-pitch to post a .350 on-base percentage.
After starting 29 games as a sophomore, Southworth was primarily a pinch-hitter and pinch-runner for the Huskers as a junior. She made nine pinch-hitting appearances and three pinch-running appearances in 2012. As a pinch hitter, Southworth went 3-for-9, while the rest of Nebraska’s roster was a combined 1-for-9 in pinch-hitting situations. Southworth produced her lone RBI of the season in her first at bat of the year, recording an RBI ground out in Nebraska’s 12-4, run-rule victory over Idaho State in the third game of the season. She added her first hit in her next at bat, while also scoring a run against Colorado State on Feb. 17. In her first start in the batting order, Southworth went 1-for-3 with her only double of the season against Texas State on March 4.
Defensively, Southworth caught the only ball hit to her in left field. Off the field, Southworth was the only returning Husker to earn a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar award.
Sophomore Season [2011]
Southworth was Nebraska’s starting left fielder for much of the year during her sophomore season. She started 29 of the Huskers’ 55 games in 2011, including a team-high 28 starts in left field. Her other start came as NU’s designated player. Southworth posted a .276 batting average on the season with four doubles and six RBIs, doubling both totals from her freshman season. She also nearly doubled her number of runs scored from her freshman season, scoring nine times after crossing home plate five times as a freshman.
Southworth began her season on a tear to win the starting spot in left. She went 1-for-3 against top-ranked Arizona on Feb. 11 in her first action of the year at the plate. The next day, she led Nebraska’s upset of No. 18 Stanford by going 2-for-4 with a walk-off, RBI double in the bottom of the ninth inning. Southworth batted .343 (12-for-35) in the month of February with two doubles and four RBIs. She recorded five of her six multi-hit games in the first month of the season, including a 3-for-3 performance against Ohio State, where she set career highs for hits, runs (2) and RBIs (2). Southworth then opened play in March with a career-long seven-game hitting streak, going 8-for-20 during that stretch with a pair of doubles.
In conference play, Southworth started four of Nebraska’s 18 games. The highlight of her conference season came against Kansas on April 3, when she went 1-for-1 with an RBI, a sacrifice bunt, a sacrifice fly and a hit-by-pitch. She went 0-for-4 against No. 5 Texas the next weekend in what proved to be the final at bats of her season.
Defensively, Southworth was perfect in 32 chances in left field.
Freshman Season [2010]
Southworth found her way onto the field in a variety of ways as a freshman in 2010, primarily in an effort to get her bat into the lineup. She began the year as a catcher before moving to the outfield. She also competed for playing time as the designated player, as well as contributing in roles as a pinch hitter and pinch runner. In her rookie year, Southworth made nine starts in the outfield and eight as the designated player, while pinch hitting a team-high 19 times.
Southworth batted .220 in her first season at the collegiate level, adding two doubles and three RBIs in 59 at bats. Her average rose to .250 with runners on base and .263 with runners in scoring position. Southworth also collected five of Nebraska’s nine pinch hits on the season, finishing 5-for-17 as a pinch hitter with a pair of walks. She got better as the season progressed, going 4-for-14 in Big 12 play, while coaxing more walks (three) than strikeouts (two).
Before Nebraska
Southworth was a four-year starter for powerhouse Papillion-LaVista High School, earning co-captain honors as a junior and senior. She helped lead the Monarchs to a runner-up finish at the 2008 state tournament, marking the fourth championship game appearance of her career. Papillion-LaVista won back-to-back state titles in 2006 and 2007, and earned a runner-up finish in Southworth’s freshman season of 2005.
Playing in the state’s largest class, Southworth was a consensus Class A first-team all-state selection in both 2007 and 2008 and earned first-team All-Nebraska and Super-State honors from the Omaha World-Herald and the Lincoln Journal Star. As a senior, Southworth batted .422 with 11 doubles, two home runs and 29 RBIs.
Also a standout behind the plate, Southworth hit .464 with 10 doubles, three homers and 27 RBIs as a junior in 2007. On the heels of her terrific junior campaign, Southworth was tabbed as the top player in Class A by MaxPreps.com entering the 2008 season.
As a sophomore in 2006, Southworth was a first-team all-state selection and earned second-team All-Nebraska honors. Following her freshman season, Southworth earned honorable-mention accolades for the Journal Star’s Super-State squad.
Southworth also excelled in the classroom, where she served as the junior class vice president after being the class treasurer as a sophomore. She was also a member of the National Honor Society. Southworth played her summer ball for the Omaha Select, coached by her aunt and former Husker Kathy Foley, who played at NU from 1977 to 1980
Personal
Megan Marie Southworth is the daughter of Pam and Keith Southworth and was born on Feb. 17, 1991, in Orlando, Fla. Megan has one brother, Brian. Her aunt, Kathy Foley, was a Husker from 1977 to 1980. Megan majored in speech-language pathology and earned her bachelor's degree from Nebraska in May of 2013.
|
Year
|
Avg.
|
GP-GS
|
AB
|
R
|
H
|
2B
|
3B
|
HR
|
RBI
|
BB
|
SO
|
OB%
|
SLG%
|
SB-ATT
|
FLD%
|
|
2010
|
.220
|
37-17
|
59
|
5
|
13
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
7
|
13
|
.313
|
.254
|
0-0
|
.833
|
|
2011
|
.276
|
33-29
|
76
|
9
|
21
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
6
|
2
|
21
|
.305
|
.329
|
0-1
|
1.000
|
|
2012
|
.235
|
19-2
|
17
|
3
|
4
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
.350
|
.294
|
0-0
|
1.000
|
|
Total
|
.250
|
89-48
|
152
|
17
|
38
|
7
|
0
|
0
|
10
|
11
|
37
|
.314
|
.296
|
0-1
|
.956
|
|
