The Judson College Eagles softball team has received a bid to participate in the USCAA Softball National Championship Tournament, to be held at Firestone Stadium in Akron, Ohio, May 14-18.
In their return to the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) this year, the Judson College Eagles posted an impressive 19 win season. The 7th-seed Eagles team, comprised mostly of freshman and sophomore players and led by veteran manager Lee Jones, will play its first game of the USCAA National Tournament tournament against 10th seed Penn State Fayette (Lemont Furnace, Penn.), at 10am May 15.
“Coach Jones has been awaiting another opportunity to return Akron since the program’s last visit in 2011,” said Marsha Ford, Judson’s Assistant Vice President for Athletics. “Though our team is young,” Ford said, “they have been eager all season to fulfill their goal to attend the National Tournament.”
The Judson Eagles lead the conference in pitching, holding opponents to a .245 batting average. The anchor of the pitching staff is sophomore Sarah Lippeatt of West Blocton, Ala., who posted a team best of 4.19 ERA, giving up only 62 earned runs in 103.2 innings in 23 appearances. Junior Tiffany Watson of Cleveland, Ala., was second in ERA at 4.31 in 63.1 innings and in 15 appearances.
This season the Eagles’ top three hitters by average came from the freshman and sophomore classes. Sophomore Darana Campbell of Cullman, Ala. led all hitters with a .327 average. Campbell also had a team high eight home-runs and 22 RBI’s. Campbell is currently tied with Genna Trippett of WVU Tech for most home runs in the USCAA conference. Sophomore Ashtin Morris of Prattville, Ala. led the team with .465 on-base-percentage and a .506 slugging percentage. As catcher, Morris played an important role in calling pitches that helped keep the team ERA under five.
The tournament schedule, as well as live stat updates, can be found at http://www.theuscaa.com/sports/sball/index.
Article by Matt Durkin and Mary Amelia Taylor
Photo by Sarah Fowler