Giselle "G" Juarez (born March 23, 1998) is an American, former collegiate All-American

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. She played college softball at Oklahoma and

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

Early life

Juarez attended Mountain Ridge High School in Glendale, Arizona, where she finished her career with a 1.78

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), 371

strikeouts In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

and a .168 opponent batting average. She led her team to back-to-back state championship appearances in 2014 and 2015, including Mountain Ridge's first state championship appearance in 2014. She was ranked No. 45 by FloSoftball in the 2016 class.

College career

Freshman year

Juarez began her collegiate career at

. As a freshman, she recorded a 2.79 ERA in innings, with 81 strikeouts, and 30 walks. She recorded a season-best 11 strikeouts against

Illinois State Illinois State University (ISU) is a public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of th ...

on February 17, 2017. Following the season, she was named All-Pac 12 honorable mention.

Sophomore year

During her sophomore year, Juarez posted a 26–6 record, with a 1.21 ERA, and 305 strikeouts in innings. She allowed just 39 runs on 91 hits, and was one of just nine NCAA Division I pitchers to reach the 300-strikeout threshold. She ranked third nationally with 13 shutouts. Her 1.21 ERA ranked 13th nationally, and was the fourth lowest ERA among pitchers who threw 200 or more innings on the season. She earned Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week honors for four-consecutive weeks, becoming just the second player in program history to accomplish the feat. She threw her first career no-hitter on March 30, 2018, against

BYU Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...

. Following an outstanding season, she was named a top ten finalist for

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 S ...

, first-team All-Pac 12 and NFCA first-team All-American.

Junior year

During her junior year, Juarez transferred to Oklahoma. She made 39 appearances, including 32 starts, and finished the regular season undefeated with a 21–0 record. She threw her first career

perfect game Perfect game may refer to: Sports * Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners * Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game * Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New York ...

on March 14, 2019, in a 14–0 win against Loyola Marymount. She threw her second perfect game on April 28, 2019, in a 14–0 win against Iowa State, becoming the second player in program history to throw multiple perfect games in a season, following Paige Parker in 2015. She finished the season with 15 complete games, including seven shutouts, while combining on seven more. She ranked third nationally in hits allowed per seven innings pitched (3.64), fourth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.08), sixth in strikeouts per seven innings (10.1), 10th in strikeouts (269) and 16th in ERA (1.39). Her opponent batting average (.151) ranked second in Oklahoma single-season history while her 0.72 WHIP ranked third, 10.11 strikeouts per seven innings ranked fifth. During the

2019 NCAA Division I softball tournament The 2019 NCAA Division I softball tournament was held from May 31 to June 4, 2019, as the final part of the 2019 NCAA Division I softball season. Thirty-two teams were awarded automatic bids as champions of their conferences, and the remaining 3 ...

, she threw six complete games including three shutouts, to help lead her team to the championship game, where they lost to

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

. Following an outstanding season, she was named a top ten finalist for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, Big 12 Pitcher of the Year, Softball America Pitcher of the Year, first-team All-Big 12 and NFCA first-team All-American.

Senior year

During her senior year, she battled injury throughout the 2020 season, making five appearances, including two starts, and pitched a combined innings. She finished the season with a 2–1 record, with nine strikeouts and four walks in a season that was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. She underwent biceps surgery on March 6, 2020.

Redshirt senior year

During her redshirt senior year, Juarez posted a 23–1 record, with a 2.81, ERA and 159 strikeouts in 128 innings pitched. Juarez help lead Oklahoma to the

2021 NCAA Division I softball tournament The 2021 NCAA Division I softball tournament was held from May 21 through June 10, 2021 as the final part of the 2021 NCAA Division I softball season. 31 teams were awarded automatic bids as champions of their conferences after the Ivy League o ...

, where she went 5–0, and posted a 0.90 ERA, with 38 strikeouts during the tournament. During the championship series at the 2021 Women's College World Series, she pitched two complete games in a row for the first time in her career. During game three of the series, she allowed just two hits and notched seven strikeouts in a 5–1 victory over

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

to win the national championship, and was subsequently named Most Outstanding Player.

Team USA

Juarez represented the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

at the 2017 Junior Women's Softball World Championship where she posted a 5–0 record, with 28 strikeouts in innings, while allowing just 10 runs on 17 hits, helping lead the USA to a gold medal.

References

External links

Oklahoma bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Juarez, Giselle 1998 births Living people Arizona State Sun Devils softball players Oklahoma Sooners softball players Softball players from Arizona Sportspeople from Glendale, Arizona Women's College World Series Most Outstanding Player Award winners