After an outstanding season-opening weekend, senior pitcher and utility player Miranda Elish raked in the honors. Elish was not only the star of the conference, as she won Big 12 Conference Player of the Week, but the star of the nation as the NFCA named her the National Player of the Week.

Elish dominated the Texas Classic with an unreal .818 batting average, four home runs and 17 RBIs. Her performance led Texas to a perfect 6–0 start and an astounding point differential of +70. 

On the mound, Elish was equally dominant. She posted a 1.40 ERA in two wins, one coming from a complete game. Across the weekend, she had 18 strikeouts and allowed an opponent batting average of .171. 

While it seems inevitable that her batting average drops, she has already put herself in position to smash some of her 2019 marks. In 63 games last season, Elish had 16 runs and 27 RBIs. In her first weekend, she posted 7 runs to go along with 17 RBIs. 

The Texas Classic was the first of five tournaments for the Longhorns before they hit conference play. In 2019, Texas went 34–11 before Big 12 play, and based off of the weekend’s results, it is on the way to a similar record.

With Elish leading the way, the Longhorns will be on a hot streak when they travel to Mexico for the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge. Their first game will be against California Baptist, which will kick off five games in a three day span. 

Before this week, Elish earned Big 12 Pitcher of the Week twice, but never had been recognized as Player of the week. Now, she has set the tone for the rest of the season with her opening statement.