Conference USA Announces Softball All-Conference Awards

May 6, 2009

Kristin Pilgrim

IRVING, Texas - Conference USA announced its 2009 All-Conference first, second and all-freshman teams, along with individual postseason award winners for softball today, as selected by the conference's head coaches. The awards were announced at the pre-tournament banquet one day before the start of the 2009 C-USA Softball Championship presented by Helen of Troy. The event is scheduled for Thursday through Saturday, May 7-9, at the Helen of Troy Softball Complex the campus UTEP in El Paso, Texas.

Southern Miss had four players receive all-conference honors. Megan Hill earned First Team All-Conference honors as she ranks second in the league in batting with a .404 average and runs batted in with 45, while ranking first in slugging percentage, on base percentage, runs scored and walks. She has 15 doubles, four triples and 11 home runs.

Samantha Davis and Kristin Pilgrim were named second team All-Conference USA. Davis ranks in the top 10 in wins, innings pitched and saves. She owns an ERA of 3.54. Pilgrim has a batting average of .355 with 57 hits, including seven doubles, nine home runs and 38 runs batted in.

Ashley Razey was named to the C-USA All-Freshman team with a .274 batting average, seven double and six home runs and 25 runs batted in.

UTEP sophomore Camilla Carrera earned C-USA Player of the Year and All-Conference USA first-team recognition after having strong year both offensively and defensively. Carrera was a first-team selection at utility player as a freshman and grabbed the first-team nod at catcher this season. The Laveen, Arizona native leads the league in five major offensive categories in all games and in almost every single category in C-USA games. She has three multi-home run games this season and started in all of UTEP's 54 games.

Samantha Davis

East Carolina's Toni Paisley garnered Pitcher of the Year accolades and one of the two first team pitcher selections. The redshirt sophomore was the league's Freshman of the Year in 2007 and is 30-8 on the season with a 1.17 ERA. She leads the league in every major pitching category and was a seven-time C-USA Pitcher of the Week honoree this season, tying Courtney Blades from Southern Miss for the most in a season in C-USA history.

Chelsea Troupe from the host UTEP Miners claimed Freshman of the Year Honors. Troupe is third in the league with her .392 batting average and is also third in slugging percentage (.652), on-base percentage (.487) and hits (62). The rookie is second on her team with 15 doubles, eight home runs and 32 RBI.

Marshall's Katie Murphree and UAB's Martina Landrum shared the Newcomer of the Year award. Murphree is 13-7 with a 2.37 ERA on the season. She has racked up 92 strikeouts. Landrum set UAB's single-season record and leads C-USA with 34 stolen bases in 38 attempts, while leading the Blazers with a .357 batting average.

East Carolina head coach Tracey Kee was named Coach of the Year. Kee's Pirates will enter the tournament as the No. 2 seed after finishing the regular season with a 40-14 overall record and a 19-5 mark in league games, the most C-USA wins in program history. This season marked the fifth time in the last six, and the 15th time in program history, that the Pirates have reached the 40-win plateau.

Regular season champion Tulsa led the way with eight All-Conference selections, as the Golden Hurricane placed four student-athletes on the first team and two on the second team. TU also had two All-Freshman honorees. East Carolina and UTEP each had two first team selections and took home two specialty awards.

Ashley Razey

The 2009 C-USA Softball Championship gets underway on Thursday with five games at the Helen of Troy Softball Complex beginning at 9 a.m. MT. Semifinal action will begin at 2 p.m. MT on Friday with the C-USA Softball Championship game to be played on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. MT LIVE on CBS College Sports. For live streaming links and complete tournament information, please visit the league's official website: www.ConferenceUSA.com.

All-Conference USA First Team
C - Camilla Carrera, UTEP
IF - Jessica Johnson, East Carolina
IF - Jessica Valis, Houston
IF - Kailey Yarmer, Tulsa
IF - Tiffany Lane, UCF
OF - Megan Hill, Southern Miss
OF - Brooke Smart, Tulsa
OF - Lauren Lindsay, Tulsa
UT - Chelsea Troupe, UTEP
P - Toni Paisley, East Carolina
P - Jackie Lawrence, Tulsa

All-Conference USA Second Team
C - Kristin Pilgrim, Southern Miss
IF - Haley Valis, Houston
IF - Leila Dolfo, Memphis
IF - Vanessa Vice, Tulsa
IF - Breanne Javier, UCF
OF - Katie Bush, Houston
OF - Laurie Wagner, Houston
OF - Joscelyn Bitner, Marshall
UT - Abby McClain, UCF
P - Samantha Davis, Southern Miss
P - Jordan Kinard, Tulsa

All-Conference USA Freshman Team
Melissa Gregson, Houston
Rebecca Gamby, Marshall
Alianna Telles, Marshall
Lelani Bernardino, Memphis
Ashley Razey, Southern Miss
Jessica Stoelke, Tulsa
Skylar Swanson, Tulsa
Catherine Douglass, UAB
Natalie Land, UCF
Vanessa Perez, UCF
Chelsea Troupe, UTEP

Freshman of the Year Chelsea Troupe, UT, UTEP

Co-Newcomers of the Year
Katie Murphree, P, Marshall
Martina Landrum, CF, UAB

Pitcher of the Year Toni Paisley, East Carolina

Player of the Year Camilla Carrera, UTEP
Coach of the Year Tracey Kee, East Carolina

Conference USA Announces Softball All-Conference Awards

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