University of Southern Indiana Softball freshman pitcher Jennifer Leonhardt (Louisville, Kentucky) has been named the Division II Conference Commissioner’s Association Midwest Region Pitcher of the Year in a vote by the region’s sports information directors.

Leonhardt is joined on the D2CCA All-Midwest Region first team by junior first baseman Marleah Fossett (Brownsburg, Indiana), while senior catcher Haley Hodges (Portage, Indiana) was named second team.

In her first year of collegiate softball, Leonhardt (27-2) set the single-season school record with 27 wins. She is currently sporting a 1.49 ERA, .201 opponent batting average and 179 strikeouts in 202.1 innings of work.

Leonhardt, the Great Lakes Valley Conference Freshman of the Year, was named GLVC Player of the Week three times in 2017 and has recorded 10 shutouts on the year.

Fossett is earning her second first-team All-Region award in the last week after netting first-team NFCA honors a week ago.

In 2017, Fossett has amassed a .408 batting average, 14 doubles, five home runs and 30 RBIs. She currently leads the GLVC with a school-record 20 hit-by-pitches and is sporting a team-best .530 on-base percentage.

Hodges is earning D2CCA All-Midwest Region honors for the second straight season after collecting first-team accolades a year ago. An NFCA first-team All-Region honoree this season, Hodges has a .409 batting average, 13 doubles, 11 home runs and 51 RBIs on the year. She is the second player in program history to record 10 or more home runs in back-to-back seasons and the first player in program history to post two seasons with 50-plus RBIs.

With the first-team honors, both Leonhardt and Fossett advance to the national ballot, where they will be considered for All-America honors.

USI (44-12) hosts Wayne State University (40-14) in game one of the best-of-three NCAA II Midwest Super Regional Thursday at noon at the USI Softball Field. Wayne State’s Lynsday Butler was named the D2CCA Midwest Region Player of the Year for her efforts in the field, at the plate and in the pitching circle.

2017 D2CCA Softball All-Midwest Region Teams

Midwest Region Pitcher of the Year: Jennifer Leonhardt, Fr., Southern Indiana

Midwest Region Player of the Year: Lyndsay Butler, Sr., Wayne State

First Team

Pitcher: Jennifer Leonhardt, Fr., Southern Indiana

Pitcher: Carly Kingery, So., Missouri-St. Louis

Pitcher: Bridgette Sappington, Sr., Rockhurst

First Base: Marleah Fossett, Jr., Southern Indiana

Second Base: Jenna Lenza, Sr., Grand Valley State

Shortstop: Alex Stupek, Sr., Missouri-St. Louis

Third Base: Alyssa Rivera, Fr., Truman State

Catcher: Lex Van Nostrand, Sr., Truman State

Outfield: Christa Reisinger, So., Truman State

Outfield: Bekah Kastning, Sr., Hillsdale

Outfield: Meredith Daunhauer, So., Kentucky Wesleyan

Designated Player: Courtney Reeves, Jr., Saginaw Valley State

Utility Player (non-pitcher): Brianne O’Dell, Jr., Cedarville

Utility player (pitcher): Lyndsay Butler, Sr., Wayne State

Second Team

Pitcher: Allison Lipovsky, So., Grand Valley State

Pitcher: Samantha Willman, Sr., Saginaw Valley State

Pitcher: Lauren Dale, So., Truman State

First Base: Rachel Hastings, Sr., McKendree

Second Base: Meredith Rousse, Jr., Saginaw Valley State

Shortstop: Jaylin Tidwell, Fr., Kentucky Wesleyan

Third Base:  Dayna Denner, Fr., Ashland

Catcher: Haley Hodges, Sr., Southern Indiana

Outfield: Ally Farrah, Sr., Ashland

Outfield: Kaylee Prieto, Jr., Lewis

Outfield: Lauren Cairo, Sr., Rockhurst

Designated Player: Ellie Balbach, Sr., Grand Valley State

Utility Player (non-pitcher): Natalie Lalich, Sr., Indianapolis

Utility Player (pitcher): Carly Dundee, Sr., Wisconsin-Parkside

The 20th-ranked University of Southern Indiana baseball team received an at-large berth to the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional as the second seed. The regional will be hosted by top-seeded Northwood University May 18-22 at Gerace Baseball Stadium in Midland, Michigan.

The Screaming Eagles are making their seventh appearance in the Midwest Regional in the last 11 seasons and their 13^th appearance overall in the NCAA II Tournament. USI has won the Midwest Regional four times (2007, 2010, 2014, 2016) and the NCAA II National Championship twice (2010, 2014).

USI’s (32-19) first round opponent is seventh-seeded Saint Joseph’s College (34-20). First pitch for USI’s first round game Thursday is to be announced.

In addition to the USI-Saint Joseph’s match-up, Northwood (43-11) is scheduled to play eighth-seeded Kentucky Wesleyan College (27-22); third-seeded Quincy University (32-20) plays sixth-seeded Wayne State University (31-19); and fourth-seeded Drury University (36-18) plays fifth-seeded Bellarmine University (34-19). The automatic qualifiers in the regional are Quincy (GLVC), Northwood (Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference), and Kentucky Wesleyan (Great Midwest Athletic Conference).

Coverage of all of the Screaming Eagles’ action in the NCAA II Midwest Regional, including live stats, audio and video broadcasts, can be found on GoUSIEagles.com. 

Regional champions will advance to the double-elimination championship finals May 27-June 3 at The Ballpark at Grand Prairie in Grand Prairie, Texas. More information about the NCAA II Baseball Tournament can be found at NCAA.com.