University of Arizona Athletics

 @jesss_harperr ||  jesss_harper
 

Career (263 GP/263 GS, .339 AVG/.398 OBP/.744 SLG/1.142 OPS, 50 2B, 5 3B, 92 HR, 255 RBI, 3-3 SB, .969 fld%) Three-time All-American at two different positions (1B & SS), including 2017 first-teamer Finished her career tied for first in Arizona history and second all-time in the NCAA with 92 home runs Has started all 263 games in her UA career Led the Pac-12 in home runs in both 2019 (29) and 2020 (10) and has finished first or second in 2017-20 Led the NCAA in home runs in 2019 (28), the 10th Wildcat to lead the country in homers and first since 2009 Has been named first-team all-Pac-12 and all-NFCA West Region in all four seasons the awards were given Was named the 2021 Pac-12 Scholar Athlete of the Year Has earned Academic All-America honors (2020 – 2nd team) in addition to her on-field All-America honors (2017 – 1st team, 2019 – 2nd team, and 2021 – 3rd team)

 
2021 (56 GP/56 GS, .327 AVG/.394 OBP/.684 SLG/1.078 OPS, 11 2B, 1 3B, 16 HR, 49 RBI, 1-1 SB, .966 fld%)

• Started all 56 games at shortstop and has started every game in her career at Arizona
• Finished her career tied for first in Arizona history and second all-time in the NCAA with 92 home runs
• Is ranked eighth in Arizona history in career slugging percentage (.744)
• Finished sixth in Arizona history with 255 RBI
• Hit her 92nd home run vs. Alabama (6/3) at the Women’s College World Series
• Had 49 RBI during the season, third-most on the team and sixth-most in the conference
• Hit 16 home runs during the season, third on the team, fifth in the Pac-12, and 37th in the NCAA
• Had 117 total bases on the season, ranked fifth in the conference
• Had a career-high 6 RBI vs. Florida A&M (3/10)
• Finished second on the team in multiple hit game (17) and multiple RBI games (15)
• Was ranked ninth in the Pac-12 in slugging percentage (.684)
• Was Arizona’s No. 3 hitter for 31 games and No. 4 hitter for 25
• Named an NFCA All-American (3rd Team), her third career NFCA All-America honor
• Named NFCA All-West Region (2nd Team) for the fourth straight year
• Named the Pac-12 Scholar Athlete of the Year
• A member of the All-Pac-12 (1st Team) for the fourth straight season and Pac-12 All-Defensive Team for the second straight season
• Was named to the USA Softball Player of the Year Watch List (50 players)
• Received a second-team preseason All-America selection from D1 Softball and was a Softball America Preseason Top 100 Player (#3)
• Was a Senior CLASS Award Finalist

2020 (25 GP/25 GS, .395 AVG/.489 OBP/.829 SLG/1.318 OPS, 3 2B, 0 3B, 10 HR, 29 RBI, 0-0 SB, .975 fld%)

• First-team Softball America Shortened Season All-American
• Finished #5 on Softball America’s Postseason Top 100 Players
• Pac-12 leader in home runs for the second straight year (10)
• Led the team in batting average (.395), home runs (10) and RBI (29), becoming the first player to pull off the team triple crown since Lovie Jung in 2003
• Named a second-team CoSIDA Academic All-American, becoming the eighth Academic All-American in Arizona history (was also a member of the Pac-12 honor roll and first-team CoSIDA Academic All-District)
• Also led Arizona in slugging percentage (.829)
• Started all 25 games at shortstop and has started every game of her UA career
• In Arizona’s exhibition game vs. Team USA, hit a pair of home runs against Olympians Cat Osterman and Ally Carda, accounting for all four RBI in UA’s narrow 5-4 loss
• Finished 10th in the NCAA in home runs
• Finished 11th in the Pac-12 and 87th nationally with 30 hits
• Finished fourth in the Pac-12 and 17th in the NCAA with 29 RBI
• Finished second in the Pac-12 and 34th in the NCAA with her .829 slugging percentage
• Enters 2021 as the active NCAA leader in home runs (76) and second in career RBI (206), one behind the leader
• Harper’s 206 career RBI are just 24 shy of the UA career top-10
• Was a candidate for the Senior CLASS Award (no award given or finalists named due to shortened season)
• Ranked #3 in the ESPN Preseason Top 25 Players and #10 in the Softball America Preseason Top 100 Players
• Named to the USA Softball Player of the Year Watch List (no award given or finalists named due to shortened season)
• Named a second-team preseason All-American by both Softball America and D1 Softball
• Tied for the team lead with five game-winning RBI, including four in the last seven games of the season
• Spent the majority of the season (22 games) in the No. 3 spot in the order, but also hit cleanup (3 games)
• Homered and drove in four runs in the season-opener vs. Kansas, the most RBI in a game by any Wildcat in 2020
• Had multiple RBI in nine of UA’s 25 games, the most on the team, including four games with three or more RBI
• Finished tied for second with eight multi-hit games, including two three-hit outings
• Will enter 2021 on an eight-game hitting streak, the longest active on the team
• Had the longest on-base streak by any Wildcat (14 games)

 
2019 (62 GP/62 GS, .333 AVG/.392 OBP/.814 SLG/1.206 OPS, 9 2B, 1 3B, 29 HR, 70 RBI, 1-1 SB, .947 fld%)

• Led the NCAA in home runs with 29, fourth most in a season in Arizona history, tied for fifth most in Pac-12 history and tied for 13th in NCAA history
• Named a second-team NFCA All-American, her second career All-America honor
•  ... Became the first Wildcat since 2009 (Stacie Chambers) to lead the country in homers and the 10th overall in UA history
• Took home the Pac-12 crown in homers after finishing second each of her first two seasons
• Named first-team all-Pac-12 and all-NFCA West Region for the third consecutive season
• Selected to the Pac-12 all-defensive team
• Also excelled in the classroom and rewarded with first-team academic all-conference as well as all-region
• Started all 62 games, 58 at shortstop, two at first base and two at designated player
• Was Arizona’s No. 3 hitter for 50 games and No. 2 hitter for 12
• Hit .333 in 204 at-bats
• Enters her senior season with 66 career homers, seventh most in school history and fifth most in NCAA history for home runs after a player’s first three seasons
• Also received All-America honors from Softball America (second team) and Fastpitch News (first team)
• Led the team with 70 RBI, second most in the Pac-12, sixth most in the NCAA and the most by a Wildcat since 2015
• Had five multi-homer games this season, giving her 13 for her career, including her first career three-homer game vs. Auburn in the Tucson Regional Championship game (5/19) in a 5-for-5 outing with 14 total bases, an Arizona, Pac-12 and NCAA Tournament record
• Tied for the Pac-12 lead in extra-base hits (39) with Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza, after leading the conference with 34 extra-base hits in 2018
• Named Pac-12 all-defense for the first time in her career, helped out by just two errors in Pac-12 games (.972 fielding percentage)
• Slugged a career-best .814 for the season, best on the team and second highest in the Pac-12, just outside the UA top-10 for slugging percentage in a season
• Scored a career-most 65 runs on the season, most on the team and fourth most in the Pac-12
• Led the Pac-12 in total bases (166) and has now has finished top-three in total bases in each of her three seasons
• Her 166 total bases were third most in the country and the most by a Wildcat since Brittany Lastrapes’ 178 in 2009
• Finished third on the team and ninth in the Pac-12 with 68 hits
• Finished second in the league with 70 RBI, giving her 177 for her career, the active lead by a Wildcat and third most in the country heading into 2020
• Finished second on the team and fifth in the Pac-12 with 106 assists
• Was one of 26 finalists for USA Softball Player of the Year as well as a member of the preseason Top 50 Watch List
• Named No. 55 in Softball America Preseason Top 100 Players and a JWOS Preseason All-American (second team)

 
2018 (59 GP/59 GS, .340 AVG/.382 OBP/.711 SLG/1.093 OPS, 14 2B, 2 3B, 18 HR, 51 RBI, 1-1 SB, .945 fld%)

• A first-team all-conference and all-region player for the second straight season
• Finished second in the Pac-12 in home runs for the second straight season (18)
• Her 18 home runs give her 37 in her career, seventh most after a player’s sophomore season in Arizona history and 21st in school history for career homers
• Started all 59 games at shortstop, switching from first base, where she played during her freshman season
• Third in the league in slugging percentage (.711)
• Led the Pac-12 with 34 extra-base hits and finished second in the conference in total bases (138)
• Led the team and finished tied for seventh in the Pac-12 with 51 RBI, 26 of which came with two out, nearly double the next highest two-out RBI total on the team
• Hit .340 in 194 at-bats, second highest average on the team
• Was named Pac-12 Player of the Week (3/12-18) when she went 5-for-10 (.500) with a double and two home runs in Arizona's sweep of Utah, her sixth weekly conference honor (3-time Pac-12 Player of the Week, 3-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week)
• Had three multi-homer games this year, including back-to-back two-homer games in week 1 vs. Fresno State and New Mexico, becoming the first Wildcat since 2013 to record two straight multi-homer games, giving her eight multi-homer games in her career
• Led the team with a career-high 14 doubles, tied for sixth most in the conference, giving her 37 in her career to put her on pace to leave UA as the all-time leader in doubles
• Arizona was 14-1 when Harper homered and 23-3 when she recorded an extra-base hit in 2018; in her career, UA is 28-1 when she homers and 46-3 when she records an extra-base hit
• Led the team with 15 multi-RBI games, including a two-homer, five-RBI game vs. New Mexico (2/11)
• Led the team with 19 multiple-hit games, including three, three-hit efforts (2/18 vs. Bryant, 3/18 vs. Utah, 3/31 vs. California)
• After two seasons, possesses a .716 career slugging percentage, a figure that would rank ninth in Arizona history
• Her 66 hits led the team and were 10th most in the Pac-12
• Ranked 18th nationally and second in the conference with 18 home runs
• Led the team in hits (66), RBI (51), doubles (14), total bases (138), and finished second in batting average (.340), slugging percentage (.711), runs scored (39), triples (2) and home runs (18)
• Her 138 total bases ranked second in the Pac-12 and 19th nationally
• Led the team with 98 defensive assists, ninth most in the Pac-12
• Led the conference with nine doubles in Pac-12 play
• Named Pac-12 all-academic second team
• Before the season, she was No. 17 on ESPNW’s Preseason Top 25 Players, a member of the USA Softball Player of the Year Top 50 Watch List and a first team College Sports Madness and JWOS Preseason All-American

 
2017 (61 GP/61 GS, .333 AVG/.383 OBP/.720 SLG/1.103 OPS, 13 2B, 1 3B, 19 HR, 56 RBI, 0-0 SB, .990 fld%)

• Named a first-team NFCA All-American, one of two freshmen on the team and Arizona’s first freshman to earn first-team All-America honors since Kenzie Fowler in 2010
• Put together one of the most productive freshman years in UA history, finishing second on the team with 19 home runs, 56 RBI and a .720 slugging percentage, finishing fourth, seventh and fourth, respectively in UA freshman history
• Her 19 homers were second most among all freshmen in the NCAA while her 56 RBI were fourth
• One of 11 finalists for NFCA DI Freshman of the Year
• Hit .333 in 186 at-bats
• First-team all-Pac-12 and NFCA-West Region as well as a Pac-12 All-Freshman performerNamed Arizona Athletics Female Freshman Athlete of the Year
• Two-time Pac-12 Player of the Week and three-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week
• Led the team with five multi-homer games in 2017, including two games (vs. Hartford 3/11 and vs. Stanford 4/7) in which she hit two home runs in the same inning
• Finished second in the Pac-12 in home runs (19), third in slugging percentage (.720) and fourth in RBI (56)
• Finished two home runs shy of tying Arizona's freshman homer record
• One of three freshmen on this year's first-team all-conference squad and UA's first since Katiyana Mauga in 2014
• Named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week in back-to-back weeks from week 5 to 6. In that two-week, 11-game road trip (CSUN/LMU Tournament, Long Beach Round Robin, at Oregon State), Harper went 18-for-34 (.529) with five doubles, five homers and a 1.177 slugging percentage
• Had 15 multi-hit games, including a 4-for-4 outing vs. Harford (3/11) in which she homered twice and doubled twice; the 12 total bases were the most among any Pac-12 player in a single game this year
• Hit grand slams in the final two series finales of the season, first vs. No. 23 ASU (4/30) and then at No. 12 UCLA (5/7), both victories
• Had three games with five RBI, most on the team, three of her 12 multi-RBI games
• Ranked second in the Pac-12 and 8th in the country with her 19 homers
• Her .720 slugging percentage was third in the Pac-12 and 44th in the NCAA
• Averaged 0.92 RBI per game, eighth in the Pac-12 and 55th in the nation
• Clouted 13 doubles, eighth most in the conference
• Collected 134 total bases, third in the Pac-12 and 14th in nation.

 
High School (West Ranch High School)

• A four-year letterwinner at West Ranch High School under head coach Bob Shults
• A member of the PGF All-American Team
• Named first-team all-state
• Earned conference Player of the Year as a junior and first-team all-conference as a senior
• Selected as a Louisville Slugger Hit Club member
• Hit .405 with 11 homers and a .904 slugging percentage as a senior
• Placed third in PGF as a senior with club team So Cal Choppers Gold.

 
Personal

• Born Jessica Ireland Harper in Valencia, California in May of 1998 to Jim and Danielle Harper
• Both parents were Division I athletes: dad played football at Colorado and mom played softball at Cal State Northridge
• Father is a sergeant with LAPD
• Has one sister, Makenna, who plays softball at ASU
• Plans to major in physiology, exercise science because she “likes to work out and loves learning about the human body”
• Would like to one be a softball coach at a major Division I school
• Enjoys going on hikes with her family in her free time
• Chose Arizona because “Arizona felt like home. I fell in love with the rich softball tradition and coaches. I want to win a national championship and I know this team can do it.”

 
Career Honors:
2021
NFCA All-American (3rd Team)
Pac-12 Scholar Athlete of the Year
All-Pac-12 (1st Team)
Pac-12 All-Defensive Team
NFCA All-West Region (2nd Team)
USA Softball Player of the Year Watch List (50 players)
Softball America Preseason Top 100 Players (#3)
D1 Softball Preseason All-America (2nd Team)
Senior CLASS Award Finalist
2020
Softball America Shortened Season All-America (1st Team)
Pac-12 Leader in Home Runs (10)
Softball America Postseason Top 100 Players (#5)
Senior CLASS Award Candidate
CoSIDA Academic All-American (2nd Team)
CoSIDA Academic All-District (1st Team)
Pac-12 Spring Honor Roll
ESPN Preseason Top 25 Players (#3)
USA Softball Player of the Year Watch List (50 Players)
Softball America Preseason All-America (2nd Team)
Softball America Preseason Top 100 Players (#10)
D1 Softball Preseason All-America (2nd Team)
2019
NCAA Leader in Home Runs (29)
NFCA All-America (Second Team)
Softball America All-America (Second Team)
Fastpitch News All-America (First Team)
All Pac-12 (First Team)
Pac-12 All-Defensive Team
NFCA All-West Region (First Team)
USA Softball Player of the Year Finalist (26 Players)
CoSIDA Academic All-District (First Team)
Pac-12 All-Academic (First Team)
USA Softball Player of the Year Top 50 Watch List
Softball America Preseason Top 100 Players (#55)
JWOS Preseason All-America (Second Team)
2018
All-Pac-12 (First Team)
NFCA All-West Region (First Team)
Pac-12 All-Academic (Second Team)
Pac-12 Player of the Week (3/12-18)
USA Softball Player of the Year Top 50 "Watch List"
ESPNW Preseason Top 25 Players (#17)
College Sports Madness Preseason All-American (First Team)
JWOS Preseason All-American (First Team)
2017
NFCA All-American (First Team)
NFCA DI Freshman of the Year Finalist (11 players)
All-Pac-12 (First Team)  
Pac-12 All-Freshman     
All-NFCA West Region (First Team)          
NFCA DI Freshman of the Year Finalist (25 players)
U.S. Junior Women's National Training Team
Arizona Athletics Female Freshman Athlete of the Year
Pac-12 Freshman of the Week (3/6-12)  
Pac-12 Player of the Week (3/13-19)       
Pac-12 Freshman of the Week (3/13-19)
Pac-12 Player of the Week (4/24-30)       
Pac-12 Freshman of the Week (4/24-30)
 
Record Books:
Career
Home Runs – t1st (92) *Active NCAA Leader*
Slugging Percentage - 8th (.744)
RBI – 6th (255)
Season
Home Runs - 4th (29 - 2019) *Led NCAA*
Home Runs - t26th (19 - 2017)
Home Runs - t31st (18 - 2018)
Game
Home Runs - 3 (t1st - 5/19/19 vs. Auburn)
Total Bases - 14 (1st - 5/19/19 vs. Auburn) *Pac-12 & NCAA Tournament Record*
Freshman
Slugging Percentage - 3rd (.720 - 2017)
Home Runs - t4th (19 - 2017)
Runs Batted In - 7th (56 - 2017)