INDIANAPOLIS --- The Tusculum softball team finished the season nationally-ranked in home runs per game average, while three Pioneers were listed individually in the final 2017 NCAA Division II national statistics.
The Pioneers belted a school single-season record 40 home runs, averaging out to 0.75 round trippers per game which were 45th in the nation.
All-South Atlantic Conference first baseman Emily Hester established a Tusculum single-season record with her 32 walks, which averaged out to 0.60 per game and were 38th in the country. Hester, a sophomore from Kings Mountain, North Carolina, recorded four sacrifice flies for a second straight year, which are tied for the second most in a TC season and were 43rd in NCAA II this year.
All-SAC freshman Sammie West (Maiden, N.C.) led the Pioneers with her 18 doubles, which were fourth in the league and 19th in the nation. West also earned a spot on the 2017 SAC All-Tournament Team.
Freshman infielder Delaney Guerrero (Elgin, S.C.) averaged a team-best 0.27 sacrifice bunts, which were 28th in the country and fourth in the SAC.
Tusculum finished the 2017 season with a 28-25 record while setting all-time school single-season records for home runs (40), walks (154) and sacrifice flies (18), while setting a Division II-era record for on-base percentage at .365.