Honors
Third Team All-Big Ten, 2007
Third Team All-Big Ten, 2006
First Team All-Big Ten, 2005
First Team All-Great Lakes, 2006
First Team All-Great Lakes, 2005
Third Team NFCA All-American, 2005
Lion Career
2007: A third team All-Big Ten selection, she started every game for Penn State this season... belted the Lions[apos] first homer of the season in season opener against No. 1 Tennessee (2/10)... had three hits, including her second home run against East Carolina, also pitched four scoreless innings against the Pirates (2/11)... hit two singles against No. 14 Washington (2/24)... pitched five scoreless innings at Florida Atlantic, giving up only two hits (3/2)... smacked a two-run double in a 6-2 Miken Classic semifinal victory over Columbia (3/3)... had two hits and scored two runs in 17-4 win over BYU (3/10)... hit the go-ahead homer, a two-run shot, in upset win over No. 9 Michigan (3/17), also pitched a complete game against the Wolverines, giving up only two runs... hit three doubles in two wins over St. Francis (3/28), also hurled a two-hitter in 8-0 five inning Lion victory over the Red Flash... retired 15 straight batters in 3-1 win over Wisconsin (3/30)... pitched a shutout in 3-0 win over Kent State (4/11)... belted go-ahead homer in game two of Kent State doubleheader (4/11)... struck out ten batters in 2-0 loss at Northwestern (4/15)... cracked a two-RBI homer in 6-5 upset win over No. 7 Northwestern (4/15)... in game one at Pitt, struck out a career-high 14 batters, also hit a two-run homerun (4/18)... tallied six hits in four games against Purdue and Indiana... struck out 11 Hoosiers in 4-1 win (4/27)... belted her seventh homer of the season, a two-run shot, against Indiana (4/28).
2006: A first team All-Great Lakes Region selection, she was also a third team All-Big Ten pick... she started in all 56 games, one of only four Lions to do so, and was Penn State[apos]s starter in the circle for 13 of those games... was third in the Big Ten statistics (all games) with a 1.29 ERA and tied for first with four saves on the year... she allowed opposing hitters only a .169 batting average, good enough for sixth in the conference (all games)... led the team in batting average and ERA... posted a 10-5 record with a 1.29 ERA... had nine complete games including three shut-outs... made a total of 21 appearances in the circle... in 98 innings, allowed 59 hits and 21 runs... struck out 122 batters... led the team with a .343 batting average... had 49 hits including seven doubles and a team-high six homeruns... tallied 23 RBIs, including four game-winning hits... had .517 slugging percentage and a .481 on-base percentage, both of which were team highs... she stole two bases and was walked a team-high 30 times as well as twice intentionally... scored 25 runs... at Hawaii (3/6) went 4-4 with one homerun, the game-winner in the top of the second, and two RBIs... had 13 multiple hit games... against Ohio State (5/12) she went 2-3 with one homerun and three RBIs... went 2-for-3 with two walks and a double, scoring twice at Kent State (4/26, game 1)... hit .714 (5-for-7) in the Wisconsin series (4/28-29), also pitching the complete game win in game two with seven strikeouts, allowing just one run... went 3-for-5 (.600) in the doubleheader with Bucknell (4/11), recording three RBIs and a homerun... also struck out five in a five-inning 8-0 victory over the Bison in game two... went 4-for-6 (.667) against Pittsburgh (4/18) with four RBIs, two walks and a run scored, making an appearance in the circle the final 1.2 innings of game one, striking out four, and then throwing a complete game in game two, striking out another seven Panther batters for a total of 11 on the night... in NCAA play, hit .556 with five hits, four RBIs, one homerun, two doubles, and seven walks, including two intentional free passes... also struck out 16 hitters in 12.2 innings of action, all against Hofstra (4/19, 21)... her season long hit streak was a six-game stretch from April 23 at Michigan-April 30 vs. Iowa... ended the season with a five-game hit streak... had three outings with double digit strikeouts: 12 vs. Longwood (2/18), 11 vs. Coastal Carolina (3/25) and 11 vs. Hofstra in the NCAA Tournament (5/19).
2005: A third team NFCA honoree, she is the second player in Penn State history to earn All-America honors... 2005 Great Lakes All-Region team along with three other teammates... first team All-Big Ten selection as a utility player, she was the Lions[apos] first first team selection since 2002... named Penn State[apos]s co-Offensive MVP with classmate Jen Acunto... started in all 59 games at first base, pitcher or designated player... after batting near or over .400 for most of the season, finished with a team-best .402 batting average, making her one of three freshmen hitting over .300... ended the season with 1.74 ERA and an outstanding 12-5 record (5-4 Big Ten)... slammed five home runs for the season... drove in a career-high four RBI against Harvard (3/26) in a 3-for-4 performance with a home run, a double and two runs scored... had seven multi-RBI games, including one with four and another two with three RBIs... ripped 19 extra base hits (14 doubles and five homeruns)... never went more then two games without a hit, putting together two six-game hitting streaks along the way... went 10-15 and tallied two wins in the circle the Minnesota/Wisconsin trip (4/1-4/3)... accumulated three RBIs and scored twice during that weekend, while striking out a career-high nine batters at Minnesota (4/1)... batted 3-for-7 with three RBIs and a home run in the Pittsburgh doubleheader (3/13), also scoring three runs... threw 110 strikeouts on the year... struck out eight hitters and allowed only one earned run vs. Purdue (4/30)... allowed no earned runs, striking out seven vs. Kent State (4/6, game 1).
High School
After earning all-Marine League her freshman year, was the league[apos]s MVP her final three years at San Pedro... her final three years, was an all-state pick as well as the Los Angeles City Player of the Year, an L.A. Times first team selection, and the Daily Breeze[apos]s all-area player of the year... played club ball with the Orange County Batbusters, who were top 10 at ASA Nationals in 2004.
Personal
Daughter of Benny and Ruth Esparza, full name is Ashley Marie Esparza... born on May 24, 1986 in San Pedro, Calif... has a younger sister, Sarah (18)... criminal justice major.
Coach[apos]s Quote
Ashley is perhaps one of the most effective softball players I have seen. She has the ability to make the opposition move in circles when she is at the plate. On the mound, Ashley works with efficiency and has provided this program with a whole new level of expectations. She has solidified herself as one of the most prolific hitters in our conference and we are looking to her to lead this team into our next era.