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2011 - Sophomore: Academic All-Big Ten ... Went 20-14 with a 2.69 ERA in 37 appearances, including 32 starts ... Threw 17 complete games and four shutouts, totaling 182 and 1/3 innings on the season ... Held opponents to a .214 batting average against by only allowing 143 base knocks on the season ... Struck out 148 batters on the season, an average of 5.9 per seven inning contest ... Won her first game of the season by pitching six shutout innings against Texas-San Antonio on Feb. 12, only allowing three hits while striking out five ... Pitched five innings of work against Providence on Feb. 18, striking out then-career-high 10, while only allowing two hits and two walks in the 8-0 victory ... Went the distance against Fordham on March 5, holding the Rams to one unearned run on three hits in her fifth victory of the season ... Tossed seven innings without allowing an earned run against San Jose State to earn the victory, striking out a career-best 12 batters ... Secured the win over Michigan State on March 26 by only allowing two runs in seven innings while earning the save against the Spartans the following day with three frames of work - allowing one earned run ... Pitched a complete game shutout against Ohio State on April 9, holding the Buckeyes to two hits and three walks over five innings of work ... Threw three and 1/3 innings of two-hit relief to secure the victory over Northwestern on April 30 before holding the Wildcats to one earned run on May 1 to earn her 16th win ... Pitched a complete game at Iowa in the second contest of a doubleheader to secure the series sweep of the Hawkeyes, holding Iowa to two hits and two runs while striking out six batters ... Struck out 13 in 11 and 2/3 innings against Western Illinois, limiting the Leathernecks to two hits and no runs as a reliever in the first contest and the starting pitcher in the second game of the May 7 doubleheader ... Pitched a nine-inning shutout at Minnesota, holding the Gophers offense to three hits while striking out nine batters to earn her 20th win of the season.
2010 - Freshman: Illini Female Newcomer of the Year ... All-Big Ten Second Team ... Appeared in 31 games, making 17 starts ... Finished 16-1 on the season with a 1.46 ERA over 115 innings pitched ... Totaled six complete games and three saves ... Held batters to a .217 average, good for second place on the Illini pitching staff ... Struck out 113 batters against only 56 walks ... Was 6-1 with a 2.18 ERA in Big Ten games, pitching three complete games to go with one save ... Spread 30 hits over 35 and 1/3 innings ... Struck out 40 Big Ten batters against 15 walks ... Third in ERA among Big Ten pitchers who saw time in at least 15 contests ... Earned first collegiate win against Kent State on Feb. 14, spreading five hits over five shutout inning to go along with six strikeouts ... Pitched a complete game shutout against UC Riverside to earn her third win of the season on Feb. 20 ... Earned first collegiate save against Nevada, pitching 2 and 1/3 innings of relief ... Pitched a complete game on Feb. 27, shutting out Radford ... Earned the win in relief against Florida Gulf Coast, pitching four and 2/3 innings of shutout ball ... Earned her second save by pitching three shutout innings against Syracuse, allowing only one base-runner while striking out two ... Improved to 10-0 on the season with 4 and 2/3 innings, allowing three runs while striking out five ... Logged a complete game shutout of Michigan State on May 2, striking out eight Spartans over seven innings ... Improved to 15-1 on the season with a complete game shutout of Purdue on May 12 ... Pitched three innings of shutout relief in the Illini's 9-1 NCAA Regional victory over DePaul.
High School: Earned four letters in softball at St. Pius X for coach Joe Winland ... Posted an ERA of 0.37 as a junior with an average of 2.04 strikeouts per inning and opponents batting just .084 ... Had five no-hitters and four perfect games in high school ... First team All-State in 2008 ... All-Dekalb County all four years of high school ... St. Pius X Athlete of the Year in 2008 and 2009 ... Region 5 3A Player of the Year ... State All-Star team selection in 2008 ... Helped St. Pius X to the Georgia Final Four in 2008 and the Elite Eight in 2007 ... Also played for the Atlanta Vipers and coach Dickey Vallery for eight seasons ... National Honor Society.
Personal: Full name is Veronica Pepper Gay ... Born May 4, 1991 ... Daughter of Gerry and Mary Gay ... Has an older sister, Meredith, and an older brother, Brad ... Sister played softball at Elon University from 2003-07 ... Majoring in community health ... Plans to go to nursing school.
Getting to Know Pepper: Favorite Athlete: Tim Tebow ... Favorite Quote: "In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different." - Coco Chanel ... Favorite Food: Lasagna ... Favorite Movies: Pride and Prejudice and Legally Blonde ... Favorite TV Show: SportsCenter ... Something most people don't know: "I was a five-time Ironkids National Triathlon Champion." ... Why Illinois? "The academics and tradition" ... What do you like most about being a Fighting Illini: "The family atmosphere and great tradition."
