Danielle Lawrie is the first Canadian to win the USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year Award. (Ty Russell/Associated Press)

Canadian pitcher Danielle Lawrie has been named USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year, the Amateur Softball Association of America announced on Tuesday.

The Langley, B.C., resident, a member of the national team who played for Canada at the 2008 Olympics, is the eighth recipient of the award and the first Canadian winner.

Lawrie is a junior at the University of Washington, and will play in the 2009 Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City with the team this weekend.

She led the Pacific-10 Conference in wins, earned-run average, strikeouts and shutouts, and was in the NCAA's top three in all those categories.

Lawrie hurled shutouts against the NCAA's No. 1 and No. 2 teams, as well as those ranked 4 through 8. She threw no-hitters against UCLA, No. 2, and Arizona, No. 6.

Lawrie broke her own University of Washington records with 472 strikeouts, 37 wins and 19 shutouts. She had 64.1 straight scoreless innings, and 90 innings without allowing an earned run.

She also came up big at the plate, ending the season with six home runs and 25 RBIs.

Lawrie hit two of those homers against Georgia Tech in the Super Regionals to help Washington to the Women's College World Series.

The University of Washington finished the season ranked No. 3 in the NCAA.

Other finalists for the award were the University of Arizona's Kaitlin Cochran and Stacey Nelson of the University of Florida.