Coaches, Florey, Parr And Norris Recognized

 CARBONDALE, Ill. – A big night saw the University of Evansville softball team earn several Missouri Valley Conference awards at the pre-championship banquet on Wednesday night.

Headlining that were two specialty awards.  Head coach Mat Mundell and assistants Ashley Balazs and Aubrey Watson were named the MVC Coaching Staff of the Year while Morgan Florey garnered Freshman of the Year honors.

“We are truly touched and honored to receive this recognition from our peers. The real credit goes to our players for buying in and helping us get Aces softball moving in the right direction,” Mundell said.  “We can’t thank our players enough for a great season.”

“Morgan had an unbelievable freshmen year,” Mundell continued.  “She has made a tremendous impact for us in the circle and at the plate.”

The coaching staff turned around a team that went 10-45 and 2-23 in conference play in 2015 into a true league contender as the squad was 24-25 overall and 12-14 in conference play in 2016.  The primary improvements have come on defense as the staff ERA went from 6.61 last year to 2.92 in 2016, which was third in the MVC.  It is the first Coach of the Year honor for the program since Rita Schulz and Dee Stevens were honored by the North Star Conference in 1985.

Florey was named the 2016 MVC Freshman of the Year.  In her first season with the Purple Aces, Florey was one of the top pitchers in the conference and also one of the top freshmen hurlers in the nation.  Florey finished second in the MVC with 209 strikeouts, a tally that is just eight away from breaking the UE single-season mark of 216.

Her ERA of 1.95 was third in the league while the four saves she earned tied the single-season mark for the Aces.  On offense, Florey batted .301 with 8 home runs and 26 RBI.  Her 23 RBIs in league play was 4th overall while her tally of seven conference homers also tied her for 4th place.

Three Purple Aces players also made their way onto the All-Conference Teams.  Florey along with junior Chandra Parr earned a spot on the All-MVC First Team while Susan Norris was named to the All-Defensive squad.

“It is great to see Chandra, Morgan, and Susan get recognition for the season they have had,” Mundell said.  “Chandra really blossomed this season at second base for us. Her offense has always been there but she took her defense to the next level this year.  Susan played the conference season at an elite level defensively. She has been a game changer for our defense especially down the stretch”.

For Parr, it marks her second such honor.  As a freshman, she made the squad in 2014.  She finished the regular season hitting .306 with six homers and 23 runs batted in.  It is also the first honor for Florey, who was one of the top overall players in the nation, contributing in the circle and at the plate.  It is the first time UE has had two 1st-team players since 2009 when Jen Stahlhut and Kylie Wagner were recognized.

A steady glove at third base saw Susan Norris finish the year with a .977 fielding percentage.  That helped her earn a spot on the MVC All-Defensive Team.  She made just three errors in 80 attempts while notching 49 put-outs.

UE looks forward to its opening-round matchup against Illinois State on Thursday at 1:34 p.m.

University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball Coach Rick Stein announced that openings are still available for his Southern Indiana Girls’ Basketball Camps, which begin June 10 with the shooting camps for grades 5-12.

In addition to the June 10 shooting camp, the Rick Stein Southern Indiana Girls’ Basketball Camps feature Day Camps for grades 1-8 (June 13-16); the Screaming Eagle Shootout for middle school and high school (June 18); an Overnight/Commuter Camp for grades 6-12 (June 19-22); and a High School Team Camp for varsity and junior varsity teams (June 24-26).

All camps will be held at the Physical Activities Center on the campus of USI. For more information go to www.gousieagles.com or call Rick Stein at 812-465-7108.

University of Southern Indiana Baseball had nine players receive All-GLVC East Division honors Wednesday night at the GLVC Baseball Awards Barbecue. The All-GLVC-East is selected by a vote of the league’s head coaches.

The nine All-GLVC honorees are one short of the USI record of 10 all-conference players in 2014.

Headlining the All-GLVC East first team for USI is senior rightfielder Kyle Kempf (Evansville, Indiana); senor catcher Ryan Bertram (Zionsville, Indiana), and senior shortstop Kyle Niemeier (Evansville, Indiana).

Kempf, the only unanimous selection on the All-GLVC East squad, is a three-time first-team All-GLVC East selection. The 2016 preseason All-American and 2015 NCBWA honorable mention All-American is second on the Eagles with a .356 batting average, while tying for second with 40 RBIs. The senior rightfielder, who also has a team-best .516 slugging percentage and 17 doubles this spring, established a new USI all-time record for hits in 2016 and has 281 during his four seasons.

Bertram was selected to the first team after earning second team honors the last two seasons. The senior catcher leads the Eagles with a career-high .357 batting average, tied for second with 40 RBIs, and is third with 15 doubles. A GLVC Player of the Week honoree this season, Bertram also is tied for first on the squad with 13 multi-RBI and 21 multi-hit games this season.

Niemeier, who became USI’s starting shortstop this season, earned his first All-GLVC East honor. He is third on the team with a .349 batting average with 39 runs scored and 31 RBIs. The senior shortstop has started all 50 games and was named the GLVC Player of the Week after hitting a blistering .571 in a 5-0 week that featured a win over the University of Missouri-St. Louis and a four-game sweep of Saint Joseph’s College.

The Screaming Eagles placed six players on the All-GLVC East second team with senior centerfielderHamilton Carr (Evansville, Indiana); senior third baseman Trent Gunn (Tell, City, Indiana); sophomore utility player Drake McNamara (Mt. Vernon, Indiana); junior right-handed starter Colin Nowak (Carol Stream, Illinois); junior right-handed starter Devin Williams (Evansville, Indiana); and senior right-handed relief pitcher T.J. Decker (Brazil, Indiana) being honored.

Gunn earns his second All-GLVC East award after battling through a wrist injury to hit .285 with 38 runs scored, 16 doubles, a triple, and a home run in 50 games. The 2016 preseason All-American posted USI longest hitting streak this season, 15 games, midway through the season.

Carr receives his first All-GLVC honor after batting .335 and a team-leading 45 runs scored. He is the Eagles team-leader with 18 stolen bases and ranks third all-time with 78 career thefts.

McNamara, who also earns his first All-GLVC nod in 2016, has hit .314 with 34 RBIs and ranks second on the team with six home runs. The sophomore also started at three different positions this season for the Eagles, seeing time at first base, left field, and designated hitter.

Nowak, Williams, and Decker earn their All-GLVC honors after leading the Eagles on the mound in 2016.

Nowak is tied for the team lead with six victories and has a 6-2 mark with a 2.24 ERA in 11 starts. He has 50 strikeouts in 68.1 innings of work and has held the opposition to a .240 batting average.

Williams has a team-best 1.95 ERA and is posting a 5-3 mark in 12 starts. He also is second on the team with four complete games and two shutouts.

Decker, who earned GLVC Pitcher of the Week after dominating relief work in the four-game sweep of Saint Joseph’s, leads the Eagles with six saves out of the bullpen, while posting a 2-0 mark and a 2.15 ERA in 21 appearances. The opposition is only batting .168 this season against the senior right-hander.

The Eagles start GLVC Tournament action on Thursday at 5 p.m. (CDT) when they play William Jewell College in the first round. The GLVC Tournament runs through Sunday at Grand Park in Westfield, Indiana.

Aces open up against Illinois State on Thursday

The quest for the 2016 Missouri Valley Conference Championship begins on Thursday as the University of Evansville softball team will take on Illinois State in the opening round of the tournament in Carbondale, Ill.

First-round action begins for the 6^th-seeded Purple Aces at 1:34 p.m. on Thursday as they face the #7 seed Redbirds.  All games will be televised live on ESPN3.  With a win in the opening round, UE would advance to face the three seed – UNI – at 6:34 p.m. tomorrow.  The winner of that game faces second-seeded Drake on Friday at 2:34 p.m. while the championship game of the single elimination tournament will be on Saturday at 1:04 p.m.

Evansville finished the regular season with a 24-25 mark while going 12-14 in the MVC.  The league mark tied the Aces for 5^th place in the conference; Bradley clinched the No. 5 seed with the tiebreaker.  The record and seed this year mark the best for the program in the last nine years.  It is also the first MVC Championship appearance for the team since 2013 when the squad advanced to the championship game against UNI.

A late surge in the regular season saw shortstop Michal Luckett lead the squad with a .312 batting average.  The junior recorded a hit in 9 of her last 22 at-bats including a 2-2 effort with three RBIs and three steals in the second game of the series at Loyola.

Also making an impact in the series road win was Morgan Florey.  The freshman tossed a complete game in the opener on Saturday and matched that success at the plate.  She notched four hits in six plate appearances in Chicago, hitting two home runs and knocking in three runs.  Florey also drew four walks in the three games.

Illinois State completed the season with an 18-32 mark and posted a 10-14 MVC record.  Riley Strandgard led the way for ISU, hitting .361 on the season and an impressive .405 in Valley play.  Freshman Allison Spencer had a solid weekend for the Redbirds as they faced UNI on the road.  She recorded a hit in four of her 10 at-bats in the series.

In April, the Aces and Redbirds squared off in a series in Normal as UE took two out of three games.  Chandra Parr led the way, notching six hits in 10 at-bats while scoring five times.  She also finished with two home runs that weekend.  Morgan Lambert also finished the series above .500, notching six hits, including a double and a home run.