COLUMBUS, Ohio – Five Ohio State Buckeyes have been recognized by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association as All-America Scholar-Athletes for their exceptional work in the classroom. They are: graduate student Lexie Handley, senior Niki Carver, junior Tegan Cortelletti, sophomore Kirsten Eppele and senior Jessica Ross.
In order to qualify, student-athletes must achieve a 3.5 or better grade-point average on a 4.0 scale.
Both Handley and Carver were also All-Big Ten and All-Region honorees in addition to earning All-America Scholar-Athlete status. Additionally, Carver, Cortelletti and Ross were both recognized last week as Big Ten Distinguished Scholars for having a GPA of 3.70 or better during the 2021-22 academic year.
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Carver, Cortelletti and Ross were three of a Big Ten-leading 167 Ohio State student-athletes honored by the conference last Thursday. The total is the second-most in program history, behind only the 232 recognized in 2020-21. The previous high for Ohio State was 164 in 2019-20.
Ohio State, Penn State (135), Michigan State (126) and Nebraska (105) were the only conference schools with 100 or more honorees in 2021-22.
In order to qualify, student-athletes must be in at least their second year on campus and carry a 3.70 or higher cumulative grade-point average for the 2021-22 academic year.
Carver, a special education major and first team All-Big Ten honoree in her fifth season, was one of 40 Buckeyes recognized for having a 4.0 grade-point average last year.
