May 8, 2008

Three Members Of The Lenoir-Rhyne Softball Team Earn 2008 Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-South Atlantic Region Honors

Senior Taylor Queen named to the first team

Starkville, Miss. – Three players on the Lenoir-Rhyne College Softball Team have earned 2008 NCAA Division II Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-South Atlantic Region honors.  NFCA is the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.

Senior centerfielder Taylor Queen (Conover, N.C./St. Stephens HS) was named to the first team while senior pitcher Meredith O’Connor (Charlotte, N.C./Appalachian State Univ.) and senior catcher Karie Pushard (Harrisburg, N.C./Central Cabarrus HS) were picked to the second team.

Queen, an all-region pick for the third straight year, finished first on the team in batting average this season (.385) and is the first Lenoir-Rhyne player to be named to the All-South Atlantic Conference First Team for three straight years (2006-08).

O’Connor finished 2008 with a 30-11 mark and a South Atlantic Conference-record 327 strikeouts this year en route to her second straight league pitcher-of-the-year accolades.

Pushard, last year’s SAC Player Of The Year, was named to the all-conference second team this season and finished 2008 with a .363 batting average and a team-leading nine home runs and 53 runs batted in.

Both Queen and O’Connor were picked to the Daktronics, Inc., All-South Atlantic Region Second Team a day earlier.

Lenoir-Rhyne, currently ranked No. 20 in NCAA Division II, finished the year with a 42-14 record and just wrapped its third consecutive trip to the NCAA Division II Regional Tournament. The Bears have also won three straight South Atlantic Conference Regular Season Titles.