PRESS RELEASE
NEW ORLEANS – Georgia State senior catcher/first base Ivie Drake and Texas State senior pitcher Randi Rupp highlight the Sun Belt Conference softball postseason all-conference and individual awards for the 2018 season.
As voted on by the league’s 10 head coaches, Drake was tabbed Player of the Year and first-team All-Sun Belt for the third time in her career and Rupp was selected Pitcher of the Year for the second-straight year and first-team All-Sun Belt for the fourth time in her career.
Drake enters the Sun Belt Softball Championship leading the conference in batting average (.436), on-base percentage (.568), slugging percentage (.919), RBI (60), home runs (18) and total bases (137). Her total bases rank fifth, RBI total and slugging percentage rank eighth and home runs rank tied for 11th among NCAA Division I active career leaders. Drake peppers the Sun Belt career lists and is the conference’s the all-time leader in hits (285) and walks (174).
Rupp enters the championship leading the conference in earned run average (1.10), strikeouts (286), innings pitched (235.1), wins (25) and games started (32). Among the active career leaders, Rupp is first in pitching appearances (180), games started (153), innings pitched (1,014.1), strikeouts (1,239) and shutouts (41) and second in wins (106) and complete games (101). Rupp ranks in the career top five in every pitching category in Sun Belt history.
Also taking home individual honors were Troy freshman pitcher Annie Willis (Freshman of the Year), Louisiana sophomore shortstop Alissa Dalton (Newcomer of the Year) and Texas State head coach Ricci Woodard (Coach of the Year). Willis and Dalton also garnered recognition on the All-Sun Belt first team.
Willis has had a phenomenal season in the circle for Troy with a 16-7 overall record and a 9-5 mark in league play. In 149.1 innings of work, she has sat down 112 batters and has only allowed 123 hits, ranking her second in the Sun Belt. Willis has not posted an ERA of higher than 2.46 this year and did not pass an ERA of 2.00 until after 21 appearances.
Dalton is one of the toughest players to strikeout in the country this season. She enters the championship tied for 11th nationally, having struck out only five times in 172 at-bats, and has not struck out since March 4. Dalton has had a solid glove at shortstop, committing just seven errors through 154 chances, and has played error-free 23 times.
Woodard has led Texas State to its first Sun Belt regular-season title and the seventh regular-season conference title in program history. Her top-seeded Bobcats seek their first conference tournament title since 2012.
Among the all-conference selections, Louisiana, ULM, UTA and Texas State totaled four selections each.
The 2018 Sun Belt Conference Softball Championship gets underway on Wednesday, May 9 and concludes with the title game on Saturday, May 12. All games of the championship are set for live coverage exclusively on ESPN+.
2018 SUN BELT SOFTBALL POSTSEASON HONORS
All-Sun Belt First Team
Summer Ellyson, Louisiana (So., P, Lafayette, La.)
Devin Brown, South Alabama (Sr., P, Mobile, Ala.)
Randi Rupp, Texas State (Sr., P, Mont Belvieu, Texas)
Annie Willis, Troy (Fr., P, Huntsville, Ala.)
Ivie Drake, Georgia State (Sr., C/1B, Carlton, Ga.)
Reagan Wright, UTA (So., C, Mansfield, Texas)
Hailey MacKay, Texas State (So., 1B, Leander, Texas)
Kaleigh Todd, South Alabama (Sr., 2B, Bessemer, Ala.)
Kara Gremillion, Louisiana (Jr., 3B, Gonzales, La.)
Alissa Dalton, Louisiana (So., SS, Cypress, Texas)
Ariel Ortiz, Texas State (Sr., SS, Waxahachie, Texas)
Courtney Dean, Coastal Carolina (Fr., OF, Indian Trail, N.C.)
Sydney McKay, ULM (Jr., OF, Pearland, Texas)
Laura Curry, UTA (Jr., OF, Temecula, Calif.)
Megan Litumbe, Georgia State (Sr., DP/OF, Grayson, Ga.)
All-Sun Belt Second Team
Randi Phillips, UTA (Fr., P, Jefferson, Texas)
Haleigh Davis, Texas State (So., C, Houston, Texas)
Kourtney Gremillion, Louisiana (Fr., 1B, Gonzales, La.)
Katie Webb, Troy (So., 1B, Salem, Ala.)
Sandra Mendoza, UTA (Sr., 2B, Eagle Pass, Texas)
Hannah Farrell, Georgia Southern (Jr., 3B, Jesup, Ga.)
Skylar Mosel, Georgia State (Fr., SS/OF, McDonough, Ga.)
Jayden Mount, ULM (So., SS, Glade Water, Texas)
Logan Calhoun, Troy (So., SS, Dublin, Ga.)
Mekhia Freeman, Georgia Southern (So., OF, Senoia, Ga.)
Hunter Hogan, ULM (Sr., OF, Colwich, Kansas)
Rochelle Roberts, ULM (Sr., OF, Vacaville, Calif.)
Haleigh Lowe, South Alabama (Sr., OF, Prattville, Ala.)
Jenny Dodd, Appalachian State (Jr., DP/C, Mocksville, N.C.)
Sun Belt Player of the Year
Ivie Drake, Georgia State (Sr., C/1B, Carlton, Ga.)
Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year
Randi Rupp, Texas State (Sr., P, Mont Belvieu, Texas)
Sun Belt Freshman of the Year
Annie Willis, Troy (Fr., P, Huntsville, Ala.)
Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year
Alissa Dalton, Louisiana (So., SS, Cypress, Texas)
Sun Belt Coach of the Year
Ricci Woodard, Texas State