University of North Carolina Athletics
Underwood Named USA Baseball Sportswoman of the Year
February 3, 2016 | Volleyball
Durham, N.C. – Malaika Underwood, a four-year standout on the Carolina volleyball team from 1999 to 2002, was named the USA Baseball Sportswoman of the Year after leading the U.S. Women's Baseball National Team to the gold medal at the 2015 Pan American Games last summer.
A native of San Diego, California, Underwood was a stellar student-athlete in her time at North Carolina. A 5-foor-9 outside hitter, Underwood helped lead the Tar Heels to three straight ACC Championships and to the NCAA Tournament four years in a row. Named the Most Valuable Player of the ACC Tournament her junior year, she completed her senior season by earning Verizon Academic All-District honors and received both an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship and an NCAA Enhancement Scholarship.
Following her volleyball career at UNC, Underwood returned to another passion of hers, baseball. Named to the U.S. Women's National Team seven times, Underwood takes home the incredible honor of USA Sportswoman of the Year after leading Team USA to the gold medal at the 2015 Pan American Games held last summer in Toronto. The U.S. team captain bested all hitters in the tournament with a .600 batting average and drove in the first run ever scored in Pam Am Games women's baseball history with an RBI single in her first at-bat of the tournament.
In addition to her individual award, Underwood helped the 2015 U.S. Women's National Team become the first women's team ever to be named USA Baseball Team of the Year. The Red, White and Blue ran a perfect 5-0 record in the first-ever women's baseball tournament in the Pan Am Games, winning the gold medal by beating host Canada, 11-3, in front a capacity crowd in the finals. The gold medalists outscored their opponents, 44-10, over the course of the tournament earning a .481 on-base percentage.
2015 USA Baseball Organizational Award Winners:
USA Baseball Team of the Year: 2015 USA Baseball Women's Pan American Games Team
USA Baseball Athlete of the Year (Richard W. “Dick” Case Award): Justyn-Henry Malloy
USA Baseball Sportswoman of the Year: Malaika Underwood
USA Baseball International Performance of the Year: Ryan Hendrick, Tanner Houck, Chris Okey, A.J. Puk combined no-hitter against the Cuban National Team
USA Baseball “Rod Dedeaux” Coach of the Year: Willie Randolph
USA Baseball Developmental Coach of the Year: Tanner Vesely
USA Baseball Volunteer Coach of the Year: Todd Greene
About USA Baseball
USA Baseball is the national governing body for the sport of baseball in the United States and is a member of the United States Olympic Committee and the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The organization selects and trains the World Baseball Classic, Premier12 and Pan Am teams (and all other USA Baseball Professional Teams); the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team; the USA Baseball 18U, 15U and 12U National Teams; and the USA Baseball Women's National Team, all of which participate in various international competitions each year. The organization is responsible for the continued proliferation and health of the sport, and leads a number of amateur initiatives including PLAYBALL and Pitch Smart. USA Baseball also presents the Golden Spikes Award annually to the top amateur baseball player in the country. For more information, please visit the organization's official websites: USABaseball.com, PLAYBALL.org, PitchSmart.org, GoldenSpikesAward.com and USABaseballShop.com.
