STARKVILLE, Miss. – The Mercyhurst College softball team has placed two players on the 2010 Louisville Slugger/NFCA NCAA Division II All-Region teams. Sophomore
Jen Bower and junior
Michelle Schmitz have earned All-Atlantic Region Second Team honors at designated player and first base, respectively, as announced Thursday.
The eight All-Region teams are comprised of 207 total student-athletes from 91 institutions, with a first and second team for each region. National Fastpitch Coaches Association member coaches in each of the eight regions select the Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-Region teams and all honorees are now eligible to be selected to one of three All-American teams.
The postseason awards continue to add up for the Lakers, as Bower has been named All-Region for the second time in as many days, having been named to the Daktronics All-Region First Team Wednesday. Schmitz has been honored as an All-Region student-athlete for the first time, while Schmitz and
Emily Redig were All-PSAC West honorees this season.
Bower, an Elyria, Ohio product, was voted the team’s offensive MVP for 2010, batting .359 with a program-record-tying 14 doubles, two triples, 12 home runs and 105 total bases. She also led the Lakers with 15 multiple-hit games, a .739 slugging percentage and .403 on-base percentage. Bower drove in 34 runs on the season, and belted two home runs on two occasions, at Lake Erie and vs. Edinboro.
She was named PSAC West Player of the Week March 3 after opening the season with a .385 average over the first 13 games. Bower finished the season strong, batting .563 over the final five games with three homers and eight RBI, including a 4-for- 7 performance with a HR at the PSAC Tournament.
Schmitz, a junior from Westlake, Ohio, continued to display her prowess at driving in runs, with a team-best 36 RBI while batting .336 with 13 doubles and nine home runs. She led the team in batting average during PSAC West play, hitting .382 in divisional competition. The infielder started 40 games at first base after playing at third in 2009.
Schmitz was a key contributor in the Lakers’ end-of-season charge toward the postseason, hitting safely in the final eight regular-season contests. She also posted a 10-game hitting streak early in 2010. The junior followed her record-setting 43-RBI 2009 campaign with 36 runs batted in during 2010, giving her 102 RBI for her career.
The Lakers are one of just two PSAC West programs to place student-athletes on the NFCA All-Region Squad, joining divisional champion Cal (Pa.), which had five players honored.
Mercyhurst finished 23-23 overall during 2010, posting a 9-7 record while earning second place in the PSAC West and its first berth in the PSAC Tournament. The Lakers recorded 20 or more wins for the fourth season in a row, and fifth time in seven years under head coach
Sara Headley. The team swept back-to-back doubleheaders from Slippery Rock and Edinboro in the final week to earn the No. 2 seed.
For complete NFCA All-Region Teams, please follow
this link.