Eagles Earn SoCon Softball Honors
5/8/2012 11:02:00 AM | Softball
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The 2012 Southern Conference Regular Season Champion Georgia Southern Eagles picked up a number of honors on Monday afternoon with the announcement of the league's awards. Selected by a vote of the leagues' head coaches, Sarah Purvis (Warner Robins, Ga.) headlined the award winners with the Pitcher of the Year Award. Purvis was joined on the All-SoCon First Team by senior Marie Fogle (Rincon, Ga.).
Senior Hanna Ennis (Snellville, Ga.) earned second team All-SoCon honors while Brooke Red (Warner Robins, Ga.) pitched her way to All-Freshman Team honors. Head Coach Annie Smith rounded out the award winners by being named SoCon Coach of the Year.
Purvis is the third Georgia Southern pitcher in the last four years to earn Pitcher of the Year honors. The sophomore hurler became Georgia Southern's first 20-game winner in program history with a pair of victories against Furman to clinch the regular season title. She fanned 221 batters to set a new school record, and enters postseason play ranked 10th for single-season strikeouts in SoCon history.
Fogle picked up her third career first team selection, joining Nina Iduate (2008, 2009, 2010) as the only three-time first team selection. Fogle led the Eagles with a .408 batting average this season with a .449 mark in league play. In conference games, Fogle slugged .797 and hit five of her nine home runs. The 2012 SoCon Preseason Player of the Year enters the league tournament poised to set the career slugging percentage record at Southern with a .561 career mark.
Ennis backed up her Preseason All-SoCon award this year with second-team All-SoCon honors at second base. She hit .257 this year with 10 doubles while holding a .966 fielding percentage. Ennis has 36 career doubles, ranking her sixth all-time at Georgia Southern.
Red's breakout freshman year in the circle earned her All-Freshman honors. She enters the SoCon tournament with a 10-1 record and a 1.63 ERA. Red has fanned 58 batters and held opposing batters to a .197 average this season.
Smith becomes the third coach in Georgia Southern history to earn Coach of the Year honors. In her first season in Statesboro, Smith has led the Eagles to their best season in school history. The Eagles set new school records for overall wins (38) and conference wins (22) this season. Smith is also the fastest coach in school history to reach 25 wins.
The Eagles open the SoCon Tournament on Wednesday afternoon at 5 p.m. in Boone, N.C. GSU faces either Furman or Samford, who square off in the tournament's play-in game at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.
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