FIRST! They can break records, hand off championship title belts but you can NEVER take away who did it first. For Texas Tech softball that will always be Riley Love when it comes to winning a NFCA Rawlings Gold Glove.....and anyone that has watched her play is not an nth surprised by this honor.
Love, an outgoing senior, started 42 games this season registering a .961 fielding percentage off 132 chances with 32 putouts and 90 assists. She led the team in wins above replacement, defensive runs saved and defensive wins above replacement. And since she will never say it, we will say it for her: SHE DID MUCH OF THIS with a brace on her THROWING HAND after jamming up her hand on a dive back into second base in early April.
Let that sink in. She was named the best defensive third baseman IN THE COUNTRY while playing with an injured throwing hand. Riley Love is simply built different. We asked her about this mindset in an interview (see full interview at the beginning of article) we had with her earlier this season:
This defensive prowess has followed Love throughout her career at Texas Tech. As noted in the clip above she previously played shortstop and was thrust into a starting role as a true freshman where she went on to win All-Big 12 Freshmen Team honors after committing only a single error all season - she started her collegiate career with 26 straight errorless games. In total Love committed only 12 total errors in 4 seasons off 396 chances to go along with 173 career putouts, 211 assists and a .970 fielding percentage.
As we said, this should surprise no one but it's dang sure a well deserved award and the perfect way to close out her Red Raider legacy. Congrats Riley, YOU DID THE DANG THING!!
Recipients of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award, presented by the NFCA, were selected by the NFCA's NCAA Division I All-America Committee, following regional voting to identify the finalists at each position. The group utilized fielding statistics and school-submitted video to closely examine finalists and select the winners at every defensive position. Any student-athlete that competed in the current championship year and was nominated by their head coach who is a member in good standing with the NFCA was eligible for consideration for this prestigious accolade.
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