ST. LOUIS -- Missouri State junior pitcher Lauren McGinley wrapped up a solid 2009 campaign with an honorable mention nod for the Missouri Valley Conference’s Softball Scholar-Athlete Team. McGinley was selected for the honor by a vote of MVC sports information directors after pacing the Bears' pitching staff with a 10-12 record, five shutouts and 10 complete games.
The Oklahoma City native, who has a 3.86 cumulative grade-point average in physical education, led the Bears and ranked eighth in the MVC with 10 victories in 26 appearances in the circle this season. She posted a 2.98 earned run average and her five shutouts was the fourth-highest individual total in the conference.
McGinley was named MVC co-Pitcher of the Week (March 2) after going 2-0 and tossing 9.2 scoreless innings, including a nine-inning, complete-game shutout of Tennessee Tech on Feb. 27. She also earned MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week honors on March 26 after posting back-to-back shutouts of Indiana State. Finally, she capped the regular season with a three-hit, 1-0 blanking of conference champion Creighton on April 25.
The criteria for the scholar-athlete team balloting parallels the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) standards for Academic All-America voting. Nominees must have played in at least 75 percent of a team’s games or have participated in the MVC Championship, carry at least a 3.00 GPA (on a 4.0 scale) and be a sophomore or higher in academic standing. Student-athletes must also have completed at least one full academic year at their present institution.
A total of 23 Valley softball student-athletes were tabbed for scholar-athlete honors in 2009. Indiana State’s Meredith Simpson and MVC Pitcher of the Year Tara Oltman of Creighton were unanimous selections to the league’s 12-member all-academic team. They were joined on the first team by Alycia Bachkora of Bradley, Jessica Wakasugi of Creighton, Brynne Dordel and Bridget Shields of Drake, Casey Gorrell of Illinois State, Katie Armour and Darcy Wood of Indiana State, Jen Larsen of UNI and Katie McNamara and Katie Schmidt of Southern Illinois.
In addition to McGinley, honorable mention recognition went to Bradley’s Anne Creighton and Janay Mitchell, Creighton’s Michelle Koch, Drake’s Erin Bly, Jenna DeLong and Kelsey Kahler, Evansville’s Jen McKee, UNI’s Kelly Papesh and Southern Illinois’ Alicia Garza and Katie Wagner.
