| April 29, 2004
Contact: Kyle Stephens (210) 887-3636
UTSA places eight on All-Southland Conference Softball squad;
Hill, Murray honored as Coach and Freshman of the Year, respectively
PLANO, Texas - Fresh off capturing its first-ever Southland Conference championship, the UTSA softball team has placed a conference-best eight players on the all-SLC squads and Aimee Murray (Cypress, Texas) and Corrie Hill have been named Freshman and Coach of the Year, respectively, the league office announced Thursday.
Headlining the list of first team honorees for UTSA is junior Krystal Gibson (Spring, Texas), who garnered her second straight first team mention at first base after making the second team as a freshman in 2002. Gibson is batting .368 with 14 homers, nine doubles and 33 RBI. Also making her second consecutive appearance on the first team is sophomore Jessica Rogers (Grand Prairie, Texas) at third base. She leads the Roadrunners with a .387 average and 43 RBI and also has 16 homers and seven doubles. Murray, who is batting .352 with 10 doubles, nine homers and 35 RBI, earned first team honors at shortstop along with her Freshman of the Year accolades, giving UTSA three of the four infield spots.
Senior Christy Brownlee (Galena Park, Texas) was chosen to the second team at second base after making the second team at shortstop her first three seasons. She is batting .319 with eight two-baggers, 42 RBI and a team-best .822 slugging percentage and has set the UTSA and SLC single-season home run record with 20 this year. She also has broken five UTSA career records - home runs (53), RBI (131), extra-base hits (89), walks (86) and at-bats (703) - in the process. Junior Jennifer Davis (Grand Prairie, Texas) also made the second team as an oufielder for the second straight year. She is hitting .348 with 10 doubles, one triple, three long balls, 24 RBI and a team-best 12 stolen bases.
Sophomore catcher Jessica Els (Houston, Texas), sophomore designated player Amanda Horton (West, Texas) and freshman pitcher Ursula Mares (Pasadena, Texas) all made the third team. Els is batting .343 with seven doubles, one triple, six homers and 26 RBI, while Horton is hitting .306 with 12 homers, two doubles and 27 RBI. Mares has posted a 24-9 record, a 2.45 ERA and 158 strikeouts and has won 14 consecutive decisions.
Hill was voted as the Conference Coach of the Year by her peers after a remarkable turnaround season. After finishing last in the league in 2003 with a 7-20 record, Hill has guided the Roadrunners to their first conference crown with a 20-6 league mark. UTSA is 33-15 overall, has won 18 of its last 19 contests and leads the NCAA in home runs with 93, 26 more than the next closest team (Louisiana-Lafayette, 67). UTSA opens play in the SLC Postseason Tournament as the No. 1 seed against No. 6-seed Nicholls State (24-27) on Friday at 11 a.m. at Bobcat Field in San Marcos. for ticket information, please contact the Texas State Athletic Ticket Office at (512) 245-2272 or toll free at 1-877-SWT-CATS. 2004 All-Southland Conference Softball Teams First Team
1B- Krystal Gibson, UTSA
2B - April Bardwell, Sam Houston
3B - Jessica Rogers, UTSA
SS - Aimee Murray, UTSA
C - Karin Smith, SE Louisiana
OF - Kristen Zaleski, Texas St.
OF - Carrie Woydziak, SFA
OF - Lindsey Danzy, Northwestern St.
DP - Katie Ann Trahan, Texas St.
P - Dione Meier, Nicholls St.
P - Nicole Neuerburg, Texas St. Second Team
1B - Falon Kwasnick, UTA
2B - Christy Brownlee, UTSA
3B - Lauren Boone, Sam Houston
SS - Jenna Fortune, UTA
C - Sarah Eads, Nicholls St.
OF - Jennifer Davis, UTSA
OF - Shelly Sleep, Sam Houston
OF - Sarina Noack, Northwestern St.
DP - Margaret Patterson, Northwestern St.
P - Aime Ford, Northwestern St.
P - Crissy Autry, SFA Third Team
1B - Hannah Snow, Texas St.
2B - Brandi Hahn, Nicholls St.
3B - Sarah Gascon, SE Louisiana
SS - Sara Gatlin, Sam Houston
Shay Hunt, Northwestern St.
C - Jessica Els, UTSA
OF - Jaime Brown, SFA
OF - Nicole Martin, Northwestern St.
OF - Kristen Baker, UL-Monroe
DP - Amanda Horton, UTSA
P - Aydrien Guajardo, Sam Houston
P - Ursula Mares, UTSA Player of the Year: Kristen Zaleski, Texas St.
Hitter of the Year: Kristen Zaleski, Texas St.
Pitcher of the Year: Dione Meier, Nicholls St.
Utility Player of the Year: Katie Ann Trahan, Texas St.
Newcomer of the Year: Shelly Sleep, Sam Houston
Freshman of the Year: Aimee Murray, UTSA
Coach of the Year: Corrie Hill, UTSA
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