Five from Ohio State Earn All-Big Ten Honors – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/11/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 11, 2006
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Sophomore outfielder Brittany Vanderink became the first Buckeye to earn first-team All-Big Ten softball honors since 2002 and joined four of her Ohio State teammates on the all-conference squad, the Big Ten announced Thursday. Vanderink (Hiram, Ohio/Crestwood) batted .459 in league games this season, second-best in the Big Ten.
Named to the second team were three OSU juniors, including second baseman Nycole Koyano (Walnut, Calif./Walnut), left fielder Megan Schwab (Glendale, Ariz./Sunrise Mountain) and pitcher/third baseman Jamee Juarez (La Puente, Calif./Wilson), who picked up the second-team utility position award. Senior shortstop Billie Carder (Celina, Ohio/Celina) earned third-team honors.
The Academic All-District IV squad was also announced Thursday, with OSU junior catcher Lauren Daykin (Melbourne, Australia/Manatee C.C., Fla.) earning a spot on the second team. Sponsored by ESPN The Magazine, eight all-district squads are selected by CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America), with first-team selections going to a national ballot for Academic All-America voting. Daykin, a communication major, carries a 3.91 GPA.
Vanderink, OSU’s right fielder, enters the Big Ten tournament tomorrow riding a career-best 12-game hitting streak, during which time she is hitting .548. She was just edged out for the league batting title by Northwestern’s Garland Cooper, who hit .471 and was named the conference’s Player of the Year. Vanderink is hitting .350 overall (seventh in Big Ten) and her average in league games is best among Big Ten outfielders.
Vanderink is the first Buckeye since 2002 when Wendy Allen, Stacy Roth and Anna Smith all were first-team All-Big Ten picks and went on to earn All-America honors the same season. Juarez (.293, 4 HR, 30 RBI, 16-10, 2.56 ERA) has started an identical number of games, 28, at both third base and pitcher. The owner of 18 career shutouts, she ranks seventh in strikeouts (185), tied for 10th in wins and tied for fourth in games started this season in the Big Ten. Juarez, who receives a Big Ten honor for the third-consecutive year, leads the Buckeyes in average with runners on base (.359) and multiple-RBI games (9).
Koyano (.291, 6 HR, 26 RBI) leads the Big Ten in stolen bases (26) and is tied for fourth in the league in runs scored (39). A career .323 hitter, Koyano was a third-team All-Big Ten pick last year and was elected a co-captain this season as a junior. She was also Ohio State’s recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, given to one player on each team.
Schwab (.333, 4 HR, 28 RBI) leads the Buckeyes in on-base percentage (.481), hits (55), total bases (80) and multiple-hit games (15) and ranks second in slugging percentage (.485) and doubles (10). Schwab, a first-team all-region pick last year, hit .333 in Big Ten games a team-best .417 in home games, leading Ohio State to a 21-2 record at Buckeye Field this season.
Carder (.298, 3 HR, 34 RBI) leads Ohio State in RBI, average with runners in scoring position (.383) and fielding assists (102), which ranks ninth in the Big Ten. Her 14 RBI in league games and .566 slugging percentage also led the team and her average with runners in scoring position went up to .455.
### GO BUCKS! ###
