Softball Players Lonergan & Best Earn All-BIG EAST Awards

Akoua Lonergan

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Seton Hall senior outfielder Akoua Lonergan (Allentown, Pa.) was named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team and sophomore outfielder Jenna Best (Medford, N.J.) earned All-BIG EAST Third Team honors, as the conference office announced the 2006 league softball honors on Wednesday at the BIG EAST championship banquet.

Both players earn all-league accolades for the first time in their careers. Voting is conducted by the BIG EAST’s head coaches, who are unable to vote for their own players, based on statistics in conference games only. Syracuse’s Alexis Switenko was named Player of the Year, Louisville’s Catherine Bishop was named Pitcher of the Year, USF’s Cristi Ecks and Syracuse’s Tonye McCorkle shared Rookie of the Year honors and Louisville’s staff was named Coaching Staff of the Year.

Lonergan hit .286 in 22 BIG EAST games with two homers, 11 RBI, 10 runs scored and 18 hits. She also walked a team-high 12 times and stole a team-best eight bases in nine attempts.

Best led SHU in homers and RBI in league play, connecting on four round-trippers and driving in 14 runs in 22 games. Her .318 batting average and .545 slugging percentage led the regulars. She was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Apr. 17.

The Pirates finished the season 29-27 and 7-15 in the BIG EAST, one game out of the No. 8 seed in the conference tournament.

BIG EAST Player of the Year – Alexis Switenko, Syracuse
BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year – Catherine Bishop, Louisville
BIG EAST Co-Rookies of the Year – Cristi Ecks, USF & Tonye McCorkle, Syracuse
BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year - Louisville

All-BIG EAST First Team
P - Catherine Bishop, P, Jr., LOU
P - Cristi Ecks, P, Fr., USF
C - Lacy Wood, C, Sr., LOU
INF - Meagan Ruthrauff, 3B, Sr., ND^
INF - Audrey Rendon, 3B, Jr., LOU
INF - Krista Holle, 3B, Sr., USF
INF - Meghan Morese, SS, Fr., VU
OF - Stephanie Brown, CF, Jr., ND^
OF - Tonye McCorkle, LF, Fr., SU
OF - Joey Scarf, LF, Jr., PITT
UTL - Alexis Switenko, UTL, Sr., SU^
DP - Cassie Morales, DP, Sr., SU
^ - Unanimous selection

All-BIG EAST Second Team
P - Heather Booth, P, Sr., ND
P - Bree Spence, P, So., USF
C - Mallorie Lenn, C, Sr., ND
INF - Katie Laing, 2B, So., ND
INF - Sam Pittman, 2B, So., PC
INF - Jillian Ortega, SS, Fr., UConn
INF - Amber Patton, 3B, Fr., DU
OF - Leslie Garland, RF, Sr., LOU
OF - Akoua Lonergan, CF, Sr., SHU
OF - Samantha Ray, CF, Sr., USF
UTL - Stephanie Blagaich, UTL, Fr., DU
DP - Allie Gendron, DP, Fr., UConn

All-BIG EAST Third Team
Rachel Bartholomew, C, Jr., PC
Jenna Best, LF, So., SHU
Jessica Dignon, 3B, So., PITT
Erin Downey, P, So., SU
Kady Garrick, P, RS-So., LOU
Heather Kim, 1B, Fr., SU
Brittany Loisel, 2B, Fr., RU
Courtney Moore, SS, Jr., LOU
Elena Romero, UTL, Sr., PC
Sara Schoonaert, SS, Sr., ND
Michelle Vasquez, 2B, Sr., LOU
Laura Wolf, C, So., USF

Scoreboard

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