The Tusculum College softball team continues to appear among the
NCAA Division II statistical leaders, through games of Sunday,
April 15.
The Pioneers are ranked in the top 50 in three team categories,
while seven different players account for a total of 10 appearances
on the individual leaderboards.
Junior pitcher Elizabeth Johnson is ranked fifth in victories with
25, a total that is good for third among South Atlantic Conference
hurlers. Johnson has a 25-11 record in 41 appearances for the
Pioneers, and has thrown 249 innings so far this season.
Senior third baseman Savannah Ewing is third in sacrifice bunts per
game, with an average of 0.44 per contest. Her school single-season
record total of 23 sacrifices leads all of Division II. Senior Katy
Stuckwish is tied for 16th in sacrifices at 0.30 per game (12 in 40
games).
Senior left fielder Ashley Burke is tied for 13th in sacrifice
flies with four, one shy of the program record of five set by Beth
Howard in 1995.
Sophomore center fielder Katie Brennan is tied for 15th with five
triples, for an average of 0.09 per game that is 29th in the
nation. Junior shortstop Lindsey Umberger is tied for 30th in
triples with four, and is 24th-toughest to strike out having fanned
five times in 154 at-bats (one every 30.8 at-bats, and in 3.2
percent of her at-bats).
Sophomore catcher Paige Sneed ranks 47th in walks per game with an
average of 0.58 (25 in 43 games). She is three walks shy of tying
the program single-season record of 28 set by Brie Griffin in
2005.
As a team, the Pioneers are 16th in double plays turned per game
with 24 in 53 games (0.45 per game). Tusculum also ranks 33rd in
triples per game at 0.30 (16 in 53 games), and the Pioneers' team
earned run average of 2.30 places them 48th nationally.
The Pioneers (30-23, 9-9 SAC) play Carson-Newman (29-29, 10-8 SAC)
on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. in the opening game of the Food Lion
South Atlantic Conference Championship from Red Edmonds Field.