Texas catcher Reese Atwood fell short of college softball’s most prestigious award after Stanford pitcher NiJaree Canady won USA Softball’s collegiate player of the year honor, the organization announced at its annual awards banquet in Oklahoma City.

Atwood was just the second Texas player to become of the award's three finalists, joining Longhorn legend Cat Osterman, who is the nation's only three-time winner after claiming the honor in 2003, 2005 and 2006.

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Atwood, a sophomore catcher from the Corpus Christi-area town of Sandia, has already broken school records for home runs (23), RBIs (90) and total bases (160) in a single season while helping the Longhorns reach this week’s Women’s College World Series for the second time in three seasons and the seventh time in program history. She also leads qualifying Longhorns in batting average (.435) and slugging percentage (.904), and her RBI tally leads the nation.

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Earlier on Monday, Atwood was named the national player of the year and a first-team All-American by Softball America. Utility player Mia Scott, a junior who plays third for Texas, earned second-team All-American honors from Softball America. Pitcher Teagan Kavan and utility player Katie Stewart picked up freshman All-American accolades.

Texas (52-8) will open the WCWS Thursday against Stanford at 7 p.m. Stanford will presumably start Canady in the circle.

The USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award is voted on by previous award winners, coaching representatives from 10 Division I Conferences in the 10 USA Softball regions as well as media members. The voters do not factor in stats compiled in the NCAA Tournament.

Oklahoma State pitcher Lexi Kilfoyl was the other finalist.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas' Reese Atwood falls short of USA Softball's player of year award