Softball Announces Team Awards at Annual Banquet – Ohio State Buckeyes
6/1/2001 12:00:00 AM | Softball
June 1, 2001
%^$COLUMBUS, Ohio –The Ohio State softball team held its annual awards dinner at the Fawcett Center Thursday, March 31, to honor its student athletes for their part in a record setting 46-18 overall record and third place finish in the Big Ten (14-6).%^$
%^$Stacy Roth (Jr., Wauseon, Ohio/Wauseon) was honored as Most Valuable Player. The catcher was a second team all-Big Ten selection and second-team all-Great Lakes Region selection. Roth reached the 30-RBI mark for the third-consecutive season, finishing with 33 this season after putting up 31 in 1999 and 36 last season. She now has 100-career RBI, most in OSU history. Roth hit .318 (56-for-176) with five home run sand three triples. She now ranks second all-time with 14 career home runs. Roth accounted for 301 putouts and 36 assists from behind the plate.%^$
%^$Jenn Link (So., Yorba Link/Sonora) was named Offensive Player of the Year. The second baseman led OSU with a .364 batting average (65-for-177) with six doubles, three triples and 18 RBI. She also led OSU with a .333 BA in conference play (19-for-57) with a double and a triple. Her batting average ranked fifth in the Big Ten. Her 67 hits were sixth most in the conference. She was seventh in the conference with 17 stolen bases.%^$
%^$Kristine Himes (So., Bolivar, Ohio/Tuscarawas Valley) earned Defensive Player of the Year for her efforts on the hot corner. She had 54 putouts and 139 assists with just 13 errors, giving her a .937 fielding percentage in 61 games. Himes also flourished at the plate, smacking a team-high six home runs to set the OSU career home run mark at 16 and bringing in a team-high 35 RBI.%^$
%^$Katie Chain (So., North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) was recognized as Pitcher of theYear. A first team all-Big Ten selection, Chain compiled a record of 23-6 to become just the second OSU pitcher ever to reach the 20-win mark. Her win total was one off the school record of 24. She set the OSU single-season record for strikeouts (185) and shutouts (11). With a 0.74 ERA, she gave up just 20 earned runs in 190 innings of work. Opposing batters hit just .185 off her. Chain went undefeated in Big Ten play, posting a perfect 10-0 record and defeating every conference opponent except Iowa. She struck out 41 batters in conference play and carried a 0.64 ERA. Tossed a perfect game at Miami (Ohio) (4/3), striking out nine of the 15 batters she faced and not allowing a ball to be put in play in the outfield. Her ERA was second in the Big Ten, her win total third and her strikeout total was fourth.%^$
%^$After missing her senior and summer seasons of high school and her fall season at Ohio State, Wendy Allen (Fr., Moreno Valley, Calif./Moreno Valley) returned from major knee surgery in time for the spring and was recognized by the Big Ten coaches as Freshman of the Year. It was only fitting then, that Allen was recognized by her teammates for the same award. Allen was a major contributor at the plate, in the pitching circle and in the outfield. Allen hit .355 (59-for-166), overall, she had a 0.68 ERA and went 6-4, piling up 79 strikeouts in 71.2 innings of work. She hit .304 (17-for-56) in conference play. Allen smacked 12 doubles, two triples and a home run. She went the entire season without committing an error in the outfield and tallied 14 multiple-hit games.%^$
%^$Chrissy Fowler (Utica, Ohio/Utica) was voted Most Improved Player. Since transferring from Wright State and redshirting the 1999 season after tearing her left ACL, Fowler has made a name for herself for her intensity and dedication, whether in practice, the weight room or conditioning. Her hard work paid dividends. Starting 48 games in the outfield, she hit .326 (45-for-138), third highest average on the team. She hit three triples, two doubles her first career home run. She totaled 17 RBI and swiped 10 bases on 11 attempts.%^$
%^$Outfielder Anna Smith (Jr., Walnut, Calif./Diamond Bar) and pitcher Kristi DeVries (Fr., Corona, Calif./Corona were co-recipients of the Coaches’ Award. Smith stole 22 bases on 26 attempts to become the OSU career record-holder with 68 stolen bases. She hit .306 (45-147) with four doubles. DeVries went 16-8 on the mound. She struckout 173 batters, setting an OSU freshman record. The total is second most ever in a season behind teammate Chain’s 185. Her ERA of 1.06 was sixth lowest in the Big Ten. Opposing batters hit just .165 against DeVries, fourth lowest in the conference.%^$
%^$Liz Kacsanek (So., Uniontown, Ohio/Green) was named Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Breana Pozzi (Fr., Petaluma, Calif./Petaluma) was honored as Most Impoved Scholar Athlete of the Year and Annie Dedic (So., Yorba Linda, Calif./Fullerton J.C.) received the Buckeye Spirit Award.
