Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Six Raiders Named to All-Conference Teams
5/8/2018 2:00:00 PM | Softball
IRVING, Texas – After seeing their best regular season since 2004, six members of the Middle Tennessee softball team earned All-Conference accolades. This is the most awards MT has received in a single season since 2000, as members of the Ohio Valley Conference. The Blue Raiders also received the most players on any of the three teams in the conference, FIU was second with five.
Cori Jennings and Morgan Harris were both named to the C-USA All-Conference First Team. Lexi Cushing, Summer Burgess and Precious Birdsong earned All-Conference Second Team honors. Amber Baldwin was named to the C-USA All-Freshman team.
Louisiana Tech picked up most of the top honors as Morgan Turkoly was named Player of the Year and Preslee Gallaway earned Pitcher of the Year. Florida Atlantic Head Coach Joan Joyce was named Coach of the Year. North Texas' Katie Clark was named Newcomer of the Year and finally Marshall's Ally Harrell earned Freshman of the Year.
"We are very proud that we got six on the All-Conference team," said Head Coach Jeff Breeden. "All six are extremely deserving of these awards. Other than being great athletes, they are great students and great ambassadors for our university and the community. I've told the girls that the better our team does the more personal accolades everyone will receive. So it's not only those six kids that got recognized on here but our whole team, since we're having a great season. Anyone from our team could have been honored."
The battery of Harris and Jennings has started 24 games together this season. The pair have earned 18 victories this year and have been huge senior leaders that MT can attribute this season's success too.
Jennings' 18 victories leads the conference and is ninth most in a single season in MT history. She is third in the league with a 2.23 ERA and also earned two saves this year. Jennings has showed off her endurance in 2018, pitching every inning of the UTEP series and nearly every inning of the FAU series. The senior also threw a no-hitter this year, the first for Middle since 2010 in a 3-0 win over UT-Martin. The performance earned her a C-USA Pitcher of the Week nod, Jennings earned two this season. She has struck out 93 on the season and looks to lead the Raiders in their first ever C-USA Tournament appearance later this week.
"Cori being selected to the First Team as a pitcher is a great honor," said Breeden. "As this is coming out she's got the most wins out of any pitcher in the conference with 18. She transferred in from Chattanooga and one of the best days was when she decided she wanted to come to MTSU. She will be missed next year when she leaves. She's a great kid and is very deserving of any award she gets but definitely being on the first team with the pitching talent we have in this conference."
Harris is pairing the best season of her career at the plate with another rock solid performance behind the plate. The senior is hitting. 358 on the year, ninth highest in C-USA, with 57 hits, seven doubles, four home runs and 38 RBI. Earlier this season she broke the MT career mark for RBI and has 110 in her four-year career. Harris has two pickoffs this season and has thrown out 16 base runners trying to steal, second-most in the conference.
"Morgan, this is the third time she has been recognized as an All-Conference catcher," Breeden said. "She has had a great season. Morgan is a leader on our team and in her senior season has great numbers both offensively and defensively. She's gone out on a high note and we couldn't have asked for anything more of her. She catches every day and basically has since the moment she got here. This is a tremendous award for her."
Burgess is also having a stellar season at the plate in her sophomore campaign. The shortstop is leading the Blue Raider offense with a .367 clip, fifth-highest in the conference. She has 65 hits and five doubles. The speedy leadoff hitter has scored 37 runs and recorded 19 stolen bases on the year. She also leads MT in walks (24), assists (129) and is the only player to have started all 54 games this season.
"Summer, being on the Second Team All-Conference has had a great season for us," said Breeden. "She is coming off an All-Freshman team season last year that only helped her grow into the player she is now. She's been in the leadoff spot for us and it seems like when her and Precious hook up, we score a lot of runs. She has matured into a better shortstop than she was as a freshman and I think her defensive numbers will only improve as time goes on for her. She is a great kid both on and off the field. I am happy for her."
Cushing tore into her sophomore season by breaking records. The first baseman is now the Middle Tennessee single season record holder in home runs (14) and RBI (47). She leads the conference in RBI and is second in homers, slugging percentage (.752) and putouts (355). The Texas native is batting .358 on the year, a top 10 mark in C-USA and has 12 doubles. She also wraps up the season as the only non-pitcher to win C-USA Player of the Week more than once.
"Lexi has had a great season and everyone knows that," Breeden shared. "From a stand point of hitting, she has been tremendous for us with the bombs she hits and the RBI she's gotten for us. She does a lot that attributes to our success. Lexi is also a great kid off the field. The past two seasons she has been an up and comer but now she is going to have to transform into a leadership role as she matures for us the next two seasons."
Birdsong has shown her senior reliability this season. The centerfielder has scored a team-leading 47 runs, second-most in C-USA. She is also the MT career record holder in the category with 153 all-time. She also wraps up her final season by holding career records in singles (195), triples (13), and stolen bases (126). She is approaching marks in total bases (288), walks (83), and hits (230). This season, Birdsong is hitting .349 with two doubles, three triples and two home runs, one of which was an inside the park grand slam. She also has a team-high 25 stolen bases, fifth-most in C-USA.
"Precious being on the Second Team is a great honor," said Breeden. "Our conference has a lot of great outfielders and Precious is one of them. Her numbers are a little bit off from last year but she is still the heart of our team. She comes every day and gives it everything she's got. Precious is great person both on and off the field and she is deserving of every award she gets. We are proud of her and are certainly going to miss her a lot next year."
Baldwin lands on the All-Freshman team, to secure MT an athlete on that list for just the fourth time. The pitcher has gone 9-8 on the year with a 2.94 ERA in 109.2 innings of work. The California native has struck out 45 and thrown seven complete games, including a two-hitter at TSU and a shutout against Akron. The righty also held LA Tech to one earned run and seven hits in 12 innings to earn a C-USA Pitcher of the Week honor this season.
"Amber being a pitcher on the All-Freshman team means a lot," shared Breeden. "Amber has come in and done a good job for us this season. I think the sky is the limit for her, and she is only going to keep improving. Next year she is going to be the veteran of the staff and going to have to be a leader in the bullpen. Amber has also done a great job in the classroom. We think she is going to excel in her next three years as a Blue Raider."
The All-Conference awards are voted on by the league's coaches.
Player of the Year
Morgan Turkoly, Louisiana Tech
Pitcher of the Year
Preslee Gallaway, Louisiana Tech
Newcomer of the Year
Katie Clark, North Texas
Freshman of the Year
Aly Harrell, Marshall
Coach of the Year
Joan Joyce, Florida Atlantic
All-Conference USA First Team
C - Taylor McCord, Marshall
C - Morgan Harris, Middle Tennessee
INF - Courtney Clayton, UTEP
INF - Emily Lochten, Florida Atlantic
INF - Natalie Erwin, UAB
INF - Haley Pace, Charlotte
INF - Kasandra Castle, FIU
OF - Madisyn Palmer, Florida Atlantic
OF - Morgan Turkoly, Louisiana Tech
OF - Jackie Schoff, FIU
OF - Bailee Baldwin, UTSA
DP/Utility - Aly Harrell, Marshall
P - Shannon Saile, FIU
P - Preslee Gallaway, Louisiana Tech
P - Cori Jennings, Middle Tennessee
All-Conference USA Second Team
C - Marilyn Rizzato, Louisiana Tech
C - Samantha Papp, Southern Miss
INF - Elicia D'Orazio, Marshall
INF - Lacy Gregory, North Texas
INF - Lexi Cushing, Middle Tennessee
INF - Jessica Rivera, FIU
INF - Summer Burgess, Middle Tennessee
OF - Destini England, UAB
OF - Katie Clark, North Texas
OF - Jordan Colliflower, Marshall
OF - Precious Birdsong, Middle Tennessee
DP/Utility - Ciara Cherry, Southern Miss
P - Tatum Buckley, Florida Atlantic
P - Hope Trautwein, North Texas
P - Haley Wiseman, Charlotte
Conference USA All-Freshman Team
Aly Harrell, Marshall
Hope Trautwein, North Texas
Sloane Stewartson, Louisiana Tech
Jordan Thomas, WKU
Emily Kachel, UAB
Amber Baldwin, Middle Tennessee
Venessa Gallegos, FIU
Ashlynn Walls, UTSA
Destini Brown, Southern Miss
Ariana Valles, UTEP
Shelby Nunn, WKU
Maddie Bowlds, WKU
