MJ Knighten

Career Game-by-Game Stats 
Photo Gallery

Career Honors & Awards

• 2017 Team Captain
• 2017 Senior CLASS Award Finalist (1 of 10)
• First Senior CLASS Award Finalist in Program History
• 2017 Senior CLASS Award Candidate (1 of 30)
• 5th-Round Selection in 2017 NPF Draft (No. 25 Overall to Scrap Yard Dawgs)
• NFCA First-Team All-American (2016)
• Two-Time First-Team NFCA All-Midwest Region (2015 & 2016)
• Second-Team NFCA All-Midwest Region (2017)
• Two-Time First-Team All-Big Ten (2015 & 2016)
• Two-Time Second-Team All-Big Ten (2014 & 2017)
• Big Ten Ten Player of the Week (Feb. 15, 2016)
• Two-Time Big Ten Freshman of the Week (2014)
• Academic All-Big Ten (2015)
• Four-Time Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll
• Tom Osborne Citizenship Team (2015, 2017)
• Nebraska Record Holder, Walks in a Game (4 at Northwestern in 2016)
  
  

Career Notes
• Started 228 of Nebraska's 229 games at third base in her four-year career
• Her lone missed start was vs. Missouri in 2016 NCAA Regional (sprained ankle)
• First four-time All-Big Ten selection in program history
• First Senior CLASS Award Finalist in the history of Nebraska softball
• Nebraska Record Holder, Walks in a Game (4 at Northwestern in 2016)
• Ended her career ranked 3rd in school history with 186 career RBIs
• Ended her career ranked 3rd in school history with 183 career runs
• Ended her career ranked 3rd in school history with 423 career total bases
• Ended her career ranked 5th in school history with a .357 career batting average
• Ended her career ranked 5th in school history with a .597 career slugging percentage
• Ended her career ranked 5th in school history with 41 career home runs
• Ended her career ranked 5th in school history with 253 career hits
• Ended her career ranked 5th in school history with 81 career extra-base hits
• Ended her career ranked 7th in school history with 101 career walks
• Ended her career ranked 10th in school history with seven career triples
• Only Husker to produce 60 hits, 60 runs & 60 RBIs in a season (2016)
• Only Husker to average 1.0 hit, 1.0 run and 1.0 RBI per game in a season (2016)
• 1 of 2 Huskers to have back-to-back seasons with 50 RBIs (2015 & 2016)
• 1 of 2 Huskers to hit 20 home runs in a season (21 in 2016)
• 1 of 3 Huskers to produce 150 career hits, 150 career runs and 150 career RBIs
• 1 of 3 Huskers to have a 20-game hitting streak (2015)
• 1 of 3 Huskers to total 60 RBIs in a season (2015 & 2016)
• 1 of 4 Huskers to hit .400 in a season (2015)
• 1 of 4 Huskers to produce four 50-hit seasons
• 1 of 5 Huskers to record 80 hits in a season (2015)
• 1 of 7 Huskers to post a .300 batting average all four seasons
• 2nd-fastest Husker to reach 200 hits (173 games)
• 3rd-fastest Husker to reach 100 career hits (92 games)
• 3rd-fastest Husker to reach 100 RBIs (121 games)

Senior Season (2017)
• Earned second-team NFCA All-Midwest Region accolades and second-team All-Big Ten honors
• Became Nebraska's first four-time All-Big Ten Selection
• One of 10 national finalists for the Senior CLASS Award
• First Senior CLASS Award finalist in Nebraska softball history
• Started all 53 games at third base and was the only Husker to start every game
• Led Nebraska in hits (51), runs (37), walks (24), on-base percentage (.410) and stolen bases (11)
• Ranked second in RBI (28) and slugging percentage (.506)
• Totaled 12 multi-hit games and six games with multiple RBIs
• Reached base safely in each of her final 21 games
• Drew 15 walks over her final 14 games
• Was 3-for-8 (.375) with a double, homer and three RBIs in sweep of Northwestern
• Went 2-for-2 with two walks and two RBIs in win over No. 25 Illinois
• Went 5-for-9 with two doubles, two homers, four runs & five RBIs in Rutgers doubleheader
• Was 3-for-5 with a double, homer, two runs and two RBIs in game two
• Went 2-for-4 with a double, homer, two runs and season-high three RBIs in game one
• Had four hits, three runs and two RBIs in three-game sweep at No. 22 Wisconsin
• Went 3-for-5 with a homer, three RBIs and three runs in the win over UNO
• Stole a career-high two bases in back-to-back games vs. New Mexico St. and Wichita St.
• Went 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI at Wichita State, her second straight three-hit game
• Went 7-for-11 with three doubles, a homer, four RBIs and six runs in New Mexico St. series
• Earned her second career Big Ten Player-of-the-Week honor for her efforts vs. NMSU
• Went 3-for-4 with a career-high two doubles and two RBIs in series finale
• Totaled four hits and five runs in doubleheader with New Mexico St.
• Went 2-for-3 with double, RBI and season high three runs in game two
• Had two hits and homered in game one
• Hit safely in nine straight games from Feb. 26 to March 11
• Went 10-for-26 (.385) during the streak with two doubles, one homer and two RBIs
• Produced an RBI in back-to-back games at No. 21 Arizona State
• Marked her first RBIs of the season
• Hit her first home run in game two of the three-game series at Arizona State
• Scored the 150th run of her career vs. Oregon State
• Joined Ali Viola and Taylor Edwards as only Huskers with 150 career hits, runs and RBIs
• Produced her first multi-hit game with 2-for-4 effort vs. No. 24 Pitt on Feb. 18
• Also added her first double of the season vs. the Panthers
• Singled and scored two runs vs. No. 13 Washington

 

Junior Season (2016)
• Earned first-team all-conference, all-region and All-America honors
• Became Nebraska's 16th All-American and seventh first-team All-American
• Ranked 5th nationally in homers, 13th in runs, 19th in RBIs & 23rd in slugging percentage
• Hit 21 home runs, the second-highest total in NU history and the most by a junior
• Had three games with two home runs
• Became the first Husker to total 60 hits, 60 runs and 60 RBIs in a season
• 1 of 9 players nationally with 60 hits, 60 runs and 60 RBIs
• 1 of 8 players nationally who averaged 1.0 hit, 1.0 run and 1.0 RBI per game
• Became the first Husker to average 1.0 hit, 1.0 run and 1.0 RBI per game
• Led the Big Ten with 21 home runs, the fifth-highest total in league history
• Ranked 2nd in slugging, 3rd in runs, RBIs and walks and 5th in on-base percentage
• Ranked 2nd in Nebraska history in home runs, slugging percentage and runs scored
• Also ranked 4th in NU history in RBIs and sixth in walks
• Totaled three hits in three starts at the NCAA Regional despite an ankle injury
• Had two hits, including a 7th-inning walk-off single, vs. Louisville in NCAA Regional
• Hit a walk-off three-run homer in game three of the Wisconsin series
• Walk-off homer came in the ninth inning with Nebraska down two
• Went 3-for-5 with two homers & 5 RBIs in game two vs. Purdue
• Had three hits, including a two-run homer in game two at Minnesota
• Tied a school record with four walks in game three at Northwestern
• Hit her 17th home run of the season in game two of the Iowa doubleheader
• Was 7-for-14 with a double, homer, five runs and nine RBIs in the Maryland series
• Finished 3-for-5 with three runs and five RBIs in the final game at Maryland
• Tied her career high in runs and RBIs in game three at Maryland
• Went 2-for-5 with a homer and four RBIs in game two of the series
• Drew a walk in 10 straight games from March 12-26, totaling 17 walks
• Reached base in all four plate appearances (1B, 3 BB) in game two of Illini series
• Hit three homers and drew nine walks in six games the week of March 14
• Had four hits, three RBIs and six runs scored at the Louisville Slugger Invitational
• Doubled, homered and drove in two in upset of No. 9 James Madison
• Had four hits, three homers and six RBIs in the Wichita State series
• Produced second two-homer game of the year in game one vs. Wichita State
• Hit a game-tying homer in the fifth and a walk-off two-run shot in the seventh
• Doubled, homered and drove in two runs vs. San Diego State
• Went 2-for-3 with a home run in Nebraska's upset of No. 7 Oregon
• Went 3-for-4 with the game-winning RBI at NC State on Feb. 19
• Hit her sixth home run and had two hits in a rematch the next day
• Named Big Ten Player of the Week following the UNI-Dome Classic
• Went 12-for-19 (.632) with five homers and 14 RBIs in five games at the classic
• Had three hits and four RBIs in season opener at Northern Iowa
• Hit a game-winning three-run homer in the top of the eighth inning
• The homer pushed her over the 100-RBI milestone in her career
• Posted second career multi-homer game with two home runs vs. Green Bay
• Tied her career high with five RBIs vs. Green Bay
• Tied her career high with three runs vs. Drake and Green Bay
• Recorded her 150th career hit with an RBI double vs. Saint Louis

Sophomore Season (2015)
• First-team All-Big Ten and first-team all-region selection
• 1 of 6 unanimous All-Big Ten selections
• 1 of 17 players nationally to post a .400 batting average and 60 RBIs
• 1 of 4 Huskers to produce 50 hits, 50 runs and 50 RBIs in a season
• Became the third Husker to produce 60 RBIs in a season
• Became the fifth Husker to produce 80 hits in a season
• Became the seventh Husker to produce 50 hits as a freshman and sophomore
• Became the 10th Husker to produce 100 hits prior to her senior season
• Became the third-fastest Husker to reach 100 hits (92 games)
• Started all 58 games at third base,
• Increased her streak to 120 consecutive starts
• Totaled the fourth-most hits (82) and RBIs (60) in school history
• Produced the fifth-highest batting average in school history (.412)
• Scored the eighth-most runs in school history (53)
• Recorded the 10th-most triples in school history (4)
• Ranked second in the Big Ten in hits (82)
• Led Nebraska with 25 multi-hit games and 17 games with multiple RBIs
• Had 10 games with three or more hits, including two four-hit games
• Batted .475 in Big Ten play with 25 runs scored and 31 RBIs
• .475 average was the second-highest conference average in school history
• Averaged more than one hit, one run and one RBI per game in Big Ten play
• Ranked eighth in Big Ten history with 38 hits in conference play
• Produced a 21-game hitting streak from March 11 through April 12a
• The streak was the third-longest in school history
• Became only the third Husker to have a hitting streak reach 20 games
• Totaled 40 hits in the 21-game hitting streak
• Went 5-for-9 with three runs and four RBIs in a three-game series at Purdue
• Was 4-for-7 with two doubles, a grand slam and five RBIs in Iowa doubleheader
• Went 8-for-12 with four RBIs in NU's three-game sweep of Michigan State
• Recorded 100th career hit vs. No. 12 Minnesota
• Hit two home runs vs. Charleston Southern in her first multi-homer game
• Went 7-for-14 with two triples and six RBIs at the Mary Nutter Classic
• Produced a career-high four hits vs. Oregon State

 

Freshman Season (2014)
• Only freshman position player to be an All-Big Ten selection
• 1 of 3 freshmen to earn All-Big Ten honors
• First NU freshman third baseman to earn all-conference honors since 1993
• Started all 62 games at third base, the only freshman to start every game
• 38 RBIs tied for the sixth-highest freshman total in school history
• Six home runs tied for the eighth-highest freshman total in school history
• Totaled 15 multi-hit games and 12 games with multiple RBIs
• Hit .364 with three homers and 19 RBIs in conference play
• Hit .333 (8-for-24) with a homer and four RBIs in the NCAA Tournament
• Hit her first career home run at No. 13 Oklahoma
• Two-Time Big Ten Freshman of the Week
• Earned first award after going 7-for-13 the previous week
• Earned second honor after going 6-for-10 with a homer and six RBIs in three games at Illinois

Before Nebraska (Sunny Hills High School)
• MaxPreps second-team All-American as a senior
• Named one of Orange County's top 25 players
• Three-time all-county and four-time all-league pick
• Three-time Sunny Hills Player of the Year
• Two-time Freeway League Player of the Year
• .456 career average
• Played her travel ball for the Corona Angels

 

Personal
• Broadcasting major
• Born on June 18, 1995
• Daughter of Kenny and Marci Knighten
• Kenny played baseball at USC
• Has two sisters, Briyana and Shay
• Shay is a freshman infielder at Oklahoma
• Has one brother, Marquis

 

Year	Avg.	GP-GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	OB%	SLG%	SB-ATT	FLD%
2014	.311	62-62	180	32	56	8	2	6	38	21	23	.395	.478	6-10	.895
2015	.412	58-58	199	53	82	7	4	8	60	17	16	.466	.608	8-10	.953
2016	.376	55-55	170	61	64	8	0	21	60	39	15	.509	.794	7-9	.937
2017	.329	53-53	160	37	51	10	1	6	28	24	19	.410	.506	11-16	.940
Total	.357	228-228	709	183	253	33	7	41	186	101	73	.447	.597	32-45	.931