2024 Softball Roster
Ashley Miller
- Height:
- 5-9
- Class:
- Graduate Student
- High School:
- Leo
- Hometown:
- Leo, Indiana
- Prev School:
- Michigan State
2024: Named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year in her first season with Northwestern, becoming the fourth different pitcher in program history to win the award ... Also earned NFCA First Team All Great Lakes Region honors and was one of four conference players to earn unanimous First Team All-Big Ten honors ... Tied a Northwestern single-season record by winning four Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors throughout the season ... Appeared in 34 games and finished with a Big Ten-best 1.58 ERA, made 23 starts and tossed 15 complete games, finishing with a Big Ten-leading five shutouts ... Became just the sixth Northwestern pitched since 2000 to have a sub-2.00 ERA in 100+ innings pitched ... Finished with 12 wins and a 1.61 ERA (21 ER/91.1 IP) in Big Ten play, both of which led the conference ... Tossed a four-hit shutout and struck out 11 in her Northwestern debut at Arizona State (2/9) ... Earned her first Big Ten Pitcher of the Week nod after allowing just one run over 17.0 innings pitched (four games) at the Mary Nutter Classic (2/23-2/25), limited opposing batters to a .143 batting average throughout the weekend ... Made two appearances in weekend series at Auburn, allowed no earned runs and limited batters to just two hits (opposing .091 batting average) while striking out 15 ... Struck out 20 over 19.2 innings vs. NC State (3/15), #24 Boston University (3/16), Minnesota (3/17) and #25 South Carolina (3/17) to earn a second Big Ten Pitcher of the Week award ... Threw four straight complete games vs. South Carolina (3/17), Michigan State (3/23-3/24), and Ohio State (3/29), allowing only three earned runs in the process ... Went 2-0 and tossed two complete games in a weekends series against her former team, Michigan State, allowed just one run in 14.0 innings pitched while striking out 19 batters over the weekend ... Tossed two complete games and went 2-0 with a 1.17 ERA (2 ER/12.0 IP) and 13 strikeouts in two games vs. Michigan ... Won her third Big Ten Pitcher of the Week award on April 15 following a week in which she went 3-0 with a 1.84 ERA in 19.0 innings pitched and wins at Illinois and vs. Maryland (x2) ... Pitched at least 5.0 innings in 12 straight appearances from 3/17-4/19, the longest such streak of her career ... Hurled 18.2 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run against Illinois (4/16) and Purdue (4/19-4/21) to win her second consecutive and fourth total Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honor ... Tossed 6.2 innings and allowed just three hits and two runs in Northwestern's regular season finale vs. Indiana, helping the Wildcats lock up the Big Ten regular season title for a third-straight season.
2023 (Michigan State): Recorded a team-high 129 strikeouts in 114.1 innings … Posted eight complete games in 16 starts on the year … Academic All-Big Ten … B1G Distinguished Scholar … Boasted a 1.47 ERA in 19.0 innings at the Texas A&M Invitational while racking up 29 strikeouts (2/10-2/12) … Tossed 11.0 shutout innings in a single day with 14 strikeouts and two hits allowed vs Fordham and Elon (2/17) … Hurled 6.0 innings against James Madison while striking out five batters (2/19) … Compiled 16 strikeouts in 13.2 innings at the USF Tournament (2/24-2/26) … Fired a complete game with nine strikeouts vs Boise State (3/5) … Picked up a save with a scoreless inning to close a 4-3 win vs Oakland (4/4) … Pitched a staff-high 9.1 innings in the Iowa series, striking out 11 while only walking one (4/7-4/9) … Threw a complete game with seven strikeouts against Minnesota (4/15) … Racked up eight strikeouts in two games against Purdue, also picking up a save (4/28-4/29) … Ended the season with 10 strikeouts over two appearances at Indiana (5/6-5/7).
2022 (Michigan State): NFCA Second Team All-Great Lakes region ... Big Ten Pitcher of the Week (2/14) ... B1G Distinguished Scholar ... Academic All-Big Ten ... Tossed the third perfect game in program history against Akron (2/13) ... Finished season with 244 strikeouts, the second most single-season strikeouts in program history ... Led the team with a 1.81 ERA over 193.1 innings of work ... Fired 20 complete games, including five shutouts and three combined shutouts ... Ended the season ranked No. 20 nationally in total strikeouts ... Struck out double-digit batters in 11 of her 34 appearances … Pitched 21 shutout innings on opening weekend, striking out 29 batters (2/11-2/13) … Struck out 23 in two games vs Florida Atlantic, allowing only one earned run in 12.2 innings of work (2/25-2/26) … Threw six-straight complete games from 3/4-3/20, averaging 10.2 strikeouts per game … Punched out a game-high 12 batters against Ohio State (4/3) ... Struck out 11 in 5.1 innings of work vs Western Michigan (4/13) … Threw 16 innings in the Purdue series, picking up two wins with a 0.44 ERA (4/22-4/24).
2021 (Michigan State): Big Ten All-Freshman Team Honoree ... Made 27 appearances in the circle, starting 18 and tossing four complete games ... Led the staff with a 1.98 ERA ... Shared three shutouts (one complete game shutout) and added two saves ... Struck out 99 batters and had a 3.41 strikeout-to walk ratio, both which ranked 12th in the Big Ten ... Threw a staff-best 113.0 innings ... Earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors on March 1 after the B1G opening weekend in Leesburg, Fla, where she tossed 15 innings, went 2-0, and owned a 0.93 ERA, tossing a two-hit shutout vs. Iowa in her first collegiate start ... Started two games and appeared in two others in relief in the second Big Ten weekend, tossing 13.1 innings against Minnesota and Illinois, surrendering just three earned runs and striking out nine while earning her first collegiate save against the Illini ... Threw a team-high 14 innings in the Rutgers series (3/26-28), scattering nine hits and striking out 15 with a 0.50 ERA on the weekend ... Started three of the four games at Maryland (4/9-10), striking out 10 in 9.1 innings of work ... Had a 1-1 record in three appearances in the Purdue series (4/23-25), striking out 10 and allowing 11 hits in 9.1 innings pitched ... Threw 15.2 (out of a possible 25) innings in the Indiana series (4/30-5/2), boasting a 0.89 ERA, 1-2 record, 10 strikeouts, and two earned runs ... Tossed a complete game gem vs. Michigan, striking out seven in a nine-inning, 1-0 loss to the Wolverines ... Started three of the four games against Wisconsin, striking out 13 in 12.2 innings ... Threw a combined 3.1 innings in the Penn State doubleheader (5/11), striking out three ... Went 1-1 in the final series at Ohio State (5/14-16), throwing a staff-high 11.1 innings with a complete game, six strikeouts, and scattering 11 hits.
Career Highs
Innings Pitched……………………………………...………9.0, vs. Michigan (5/5/21)
Strikeouts…………………………………………..…....14 (2x), last vs. Elon (3/4/22)
Fewest Hits Allowed (min. 5 IP).............................................0, vs. Akron (2/13/22)
Fewest Earned Runs Allowed (min. 5 IP)............0 (25x), last vs. Purdue (4/21/24)
High School: Three-year letter winner … State Runner-Up her junior season… Sectional Champions three consecutive years (2017, 2018, 2019) … Regional Champions her sophomore and junior seasons… Two-time Conference Champions (2017, 2018) … Three-time First Team All-Conference… Member of the All-Area team (2017, 2018) … First-team All-State sophomore and junior year… North East Indiana Player of the Year (2019) … Played for Finesse Fastpitch in Wixom, Mich. under Coach Donny Dreher.
Personal: Daughter of Mike and Sharon Miller… Has a brother, Matt, who plays hockey at the University of Nebraska-Omaha… Father ran track & field at Central Michigan University and was the MAC Champion in the 110 hurdles… Spent four years on the Principal's Honor Roll… Ranked #6 out of 232 in her class… Plans on majoring in Business.
Drohan on Miller: "Ashley's track record as an accomplished pitcher in the Big Ten, and her commitment to excellence, make her a perfect fit for Northwestern. Her experience and skillset will immediately strengthen our pitching staff and contribute to our success on the field. She is an absolute gamer in the circle, and we are so excited to welcome her as part of our program."
