College News: Halloween Week Plays Tricks on Arizona State as G Juarez, Danielle Gibson Announce Transfers

For the second week in a row, a Pac-12 school has lost a pair of key contributors on the same day via the transfer process.

Last week it was the University of Oregon which saw pitcher Miranda Elish and designated hitter/outfielder Lauren Burke announce they would be following former Duck head coach Mike White to the University of Texas.

On Tuesday, Justin McLeod of JustinsWorldOfSoftball.com broke the story that two players who helped Arizona State make the 2018 Women’s College World Series–pitcher Giselle “G” Juarez and freshman star infielder Danielle Gibson–would not be playing for the Sun Devils in 2019 after helping Trisha Ford’s team finish the regular season with a 43-11 record and making the NCAA tournament as the #8 overall seed.

Here is more info on the two including notes from their Twitter pages and stats and honors they earned over the last year…

*****

G JUAREZ

Juarez announced her transfer from the program on Tuesday via Twitter just hours after freshman star Danielle Gibson made a similar announcement on Twitter.
In a message posted to her personal Twitter account, Juarez said:

pic.twitter.com/feYwD2Eaak

— 'G' Giselle Juarez (@ggotgame45) October 30, 2018

Juarez earned 1st team All-American honors after an incredible 2018 season that saw her post a 1.21 overall ERA in more than 224 innings of work in the circle. The mark placed her fourth in the nation among pitchers with at least 200 innings pitched. Juarez collected 305 strikeouts and a 26-6 overall record.

In addition to her All-American honor, Juarez was also named to the All-Pac 12 and All-Region 1st teams and was a Top 10 finalist for the National Player of the Year award.

She was a 1st Team NFCA All-American, one of three pitchers to make the 1st Team along with Oregon’s Megan Kleist and Florida’s Kelly Barnhill.

As noted in the NFCA release:

“Juarez, a sophomore, ranks in the NCAA’s top 20 in seven categories, including third in shutouts, fifth in ERA and eighth in strikeouts. She was a four-time Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week and named to the league’s first team. In helping the Sun Devils reach their first WCWS since 2013.”

A former member of the US Junior Women’s National Team, Juarez spent the 2018 international season on the roster of team Puerto Rico and was a part of considerable growth in that nation’s softball program on the international stage.

*****

DANILLE GIBSON

Gibson said in her statement:

🙏🏼🙏🏼🙌🏼 pic.twitter.com/Uwubi01THF

— Danielle Gibson (@danielleeee41) October 30, 2018

The Murrietta, California native earned 1st team All-Pac-12 honors in her freshman campaign and was named to the conference’s All-Freshman team. Following the season, she was named to the All-Region 2nd team.

During her inaugural season in a Sun Devil uniform, Gibson posted a .343 batting average and led the team in home runs with 12.

She finished second on the team in several statistical categories including RBI (39); slugging percentage (.633); and on-base percentage (.417).

Neither player has announced publicly yet where they will be playing next year.