Tuesday, May 11, 2010

MACON, Ga. – Fresh off completing the best Atlantic Sun season in the sport in 10 years, Lipscomb dominated the All-Atlantic Sun team, placing a record six players on the First Team led by sophomore Whitney Kiihnl - who took home both the Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year awards, the conference announced on Tuesday.

Kiihnl concluded the regular season with a sparkling 28-2 record and 0.71 ERA. Her ERA ranks second in the country and the sophomore, who has thrown five no-hitters this season, leads the nation in fewest hits allowed per seven innings (2.01). Since the A-Sun began awarding both a Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year in 2004, no player prior to Kiihnl had captured both honors.

Five of Kiihnl’s teammates joined her on the All-Atlantic Sun First Team, and her head coach, Kristin Ryman won her second Coach of the Year honor after guiding the squad to a school-record 44 wins. Kiihnl’s battery mate, catcher Mollie Mitchell, three Lady Bisons infielders (Courtney Billington, Abby Keese and Kellie Sirus) and outfielder Lauren Dortwegt make up the record six First-Team selectees. Led by Billington’s .365 average (second in the A-Sun) all six Lady Bisons rank in the top 12 in the A-Sun in hitting (Kiihnl – fourth, Mitchell – sixth, Keese – eighth, Dortwegt – 11th and Sirus 12th). Keese leads the conference in home runs with 13 while Sirus trails by one. Sirus leads in runs, RBI and slugging percentage. Dortwegt ranks second in hits and fourth in runs.

Pairs of teammates from USC Upstate and Kennesaw State, plus Jacksonville’s Kayla Ouellet, rounds out the First Team. Both the Spartans and Owls advanced to the A-Sun Championship in their first year of eligibility. The Spartans rode the right arm of Morgan Childers to a 38-13 overall record. Childers earned 31 of those victories, becoming the conference’s first 30-game winner since FAU’s Nicole Myers won 36 in 2002. Childers enters the A-Sun Championship with 405 strikeouts, second in A-Sun history to Myers’ 437, also established in 2002. Crislyn Chewning becomes the first Spartan position player named to the First Team as the senior hit .363, currently third in the conference.

Kennesaw State’s Ashlee Burkett snagged the lone infield spot not claimed by a member of the Lady Bisons. She also garnered the A-Sun Freshman of the Year award, the first won by an Owl. The lone freshman on the First Team ranked in the top five in RBI and slugging percentage while hitting .342 with eight home runs. Her teammate, Jessica Cross landed the First-Team DP/utility spot after hitting 11 home runs and driving in 35 runs. In the pitcher’s circle, she won 14 games while sporting a 1.89 ERA.

A quartet from second-seeded Stetson, pitcher Amanda Lindsey, catcher Jessica Lokeinsky, infielder Chelsey Trotto and outfielder Amy Joyce lead the Second Team. Lindsey ranks third in ERA and wins while placing fifth in strikeouts. At the plate, she tops the conference in on-base percentage and ranks second in slugging percentage and Joyce leads the conference in stolen bases, with 29. ETSU’s Cheniece Cason, the league’s leader in average, .372; hits, 72; and triples, four, also landed on the Second Team. FGCU (Courtney Platt and Jessica Gary), Jacksonville (Ashley Iveson and Amber Moseley) and Campbell (Amanda Miller and Sarah Forgacs) each placed two on the Second Team with UNF’s Caroline Torre and USC Upstate’s Katie Zauner rounding out the squad.

Burkett, her teammate, Sharon Swanson and Campbell’s Forgacs all earned unanimous spots on the All-Freshman team. Pitcher Abbey Meixel made it three Owls on the squad. The Eagles (Mariah Fernandez and Tiffani Upchurch) and Dolphins (Olivia Kline and Sarah Simon) both placed two on the team that also featured USC Upstate’s Ericka Harris, Belmont’s Devon Schmidt and ETSU’s Lucy Schneider.

The 2010 Atlantic Sun Softball Championship begins Thursday from Stetson’s Patricia Wilson Field. The event opens with Kennesaw State and USC Upstate taking the field at 9:00 a.m. followed by regular-season champion Lipscomb opening with two-time defending champion Campbell at 11:00 a.m. Stetson tangles with Jacksonville at 1:00 p.m. Catch all the action on ASun.TV.

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The Atlantic Sun Conference is an 11-member league committed to Building Winners for Life. The A-Sun stands for achievement with integrity in both the academic and athletic arenas, with a focus on the balance between the two for our student-athletes. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun boasts six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun includes a blend of the most prestigious and dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.