University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Softballer Beth Dietrich Earns 2012 Spring Spirit of Service Award
6/14/2012 12:00:00 AM | Softball
June 14, 2012
IRVING, Texas - Southern Miss senior pitcher Beth Dietrich was one of 12 honorees to receive the Conference USA Spring Spirit of Service award, C-USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky announced on Thursday.
Dietrich's teammate Danielle LaPointe earned the honor last spring, making it back-to-back award winners for the softball team.
The C-USA Spirit of Service Award is designed to recognize the community service efforts of the league's student-athletes, based upon significant community service, good academic standing and participation in their elected sport. The Spirit of Service award is presented three times throughout the season, with today's honorees representing Conference USA's spring sports: baseball, men's and women's golf, women's rowing, softball, men's and women's tennis and men's and women's outdoor track and field.
"This is a fantastic accolade for Beth and it truly embodies everything we expect from our student-athletes," said co-head coach Kirsten Voak. "Service to the community is one of the most important aspects of being a student-athlete, and it is truly a testament to Beth's character and work ethic that she is able to balance all of her responsibilities and still find time to serve others."
2012 Spring C-USA Spirit of Service Honorees
| Athlete | School | Sport |
| Rachel Boerner | East Carolina | Women's Track & Field |
| Karley King | Houston | Women's Track & Field |
| Ashley Gue | Marshall | Softball |
| Courtney Collins | Memphis | Women's Tennis |
| Andrew Murphy | Rice | Baseball |
| Emily Carstens | SMU | Women's Rowing |
| Beth Dietrich | Southern Miss | Softball |
| Mariam Kurdadze | Tulane | Women's Tennis |
| Abigail Gorman | Tulsa | Women's Rowing |
| Michael Busby | UAB | Baseball |
| Vanessa Perez | UCF | Softball |
| Ross Rotwein | UTEP | Men's Golf |
A Student-Athlete Advisory Committee member, Dietrich is active in all student-athlete service functions including Operation Christmas Child, an annual service drive to put together Christmas boxes for area children, the "Black Out Hunger" can food drive and the yearly on-campus Halloween Carnival.
The Manvel, Texas native is also a volunteer pitching coach at a local high school where she gives free pitching lessons and regularly visits the Dubard School, an on-campus school for children with speech and hearing disabilities. Dietrich finished the 2012 season ranked No. 28 nationally in walks allowed per seven innings, higher than any other C-USA pitcher. She also led the Golden Eagles in appearances (28), strikeouts (81), wins (7), and complete games (15).
