Softball: Ohio State’s Sam Marder, Dee Dee Hillman Earn All-Big Ten Honors – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Marder named first team again, Hillman named third team; Vanderink earns sportsmanship award
EVANSTON, Ill. Ohio State sophomore Sam Marder was named to the first team and freshman outfielder Dee Dee Hillman earned third-team honors as the Big Ten announced its all-conference softball teams Thursday at the Big Ten tournament in Evanston.
The complete Big Ten release is below.
A native of Calabasas, Calif., Marder is a repeat first-team All-Big Ten selection after leading the league and the nation during the regular season in both on base percentage (.635) and walks (59). Marder ranked second in the Big Ten in batting average (.478, third in nation) and slugging percentage (.848) and third in the Big Ten in home runs (14) and total bases (117). Her RBI total of 54 ranked fourth.
In Big Ten games, Marder hit a conference-best .457 in 35 official at bats and was walked 37 times, both contributing to a league-high .740 on base percentage. Marder was a finalist for the USA Softball Player of the Year Award and was named the Big Ten Player of the Week twice during the regular season.
A .284 hitter during the regular season, Hillman started every game but two for the Buckeyes, going between left field and second base. The Defiance, Ohio, native batted .476 in March and led Ohio State ins batting in its last two southern tournaments, posting a .467 average at the Capital Classic in Sacramento March 14-16 after fashioning a .417 average at the UNLV Invitational March 7-9. Hillman’s 4-for-4 effort against Illinois March 30 tied the OSU freshman hits record.
In addition, senior Brittany Vanderink was Ohio State’s recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. The Buckeyes’ captain in 2008, Vanderink was honored for sportsmanship, citizenship and ethical behavior while also holding a strong academic record. She hit .370 during the season and led the Big Ten with 71 hits.
For Immediate Release
Date: May 8, 2008
BIG TEN CO-CHAMPIONS MICHIGAN AND NORTHWESTERN
SPLIT TOP SOFTBALL INDIVIDUAL HONORS
NU’s Williams named Player of the Year and teammate Delaney earns Pitcher of the Year accolade; Michigan’s Taylor tabbed Freshman of the Year and Hutchins named Coach of the Year
Park Ridge, Ill. The Big Ten office announced the 2008 softball All-Big Ten teams and individual honors today with co-champions Michigan and Northwestern each earning two individual laurels. NU’s Tammy Williams picked up Player of the Year accolades while teammate Lauren Delaney was named Pitcher of the Year. Michigan’s Jordan Taylor was tabbed Freshman of the Year and her coach Carol Hutchins earned Coach of the Year laurels.
Williams leads the nation in batting average, hitting at a .482 clip, and is among the top 10 with a .576 on- base percentage. The Roscoe, Mo., native has scored a Big Ten-best 21 runs and has 23 RBI during conference play. The prolific shortstop has 42 putouts in Big Ten action and sports a .932 fielding percentage. Overall, Williams has 68 hits, 10 homeruns and 37 RBI on the season. The junior was named National Player of the Week on Feb. 19 by Louisville Slugger/NFCA National and is in contention for National Player of the Year. Williams is the fourth-straight Wildcat to claim top conference accolades as Garland Cooper was honored in 2007, 2006 and 2005. In addition, two other Wildcats have earned the award — Brooke Siebel in 2000 and Lisa Ishikawa, who was named the Big Ten’s first-ever Player of the Year in 1985.
Northwestern’s Delaney becomes the third-straight Wildcat to earn Pitcher of the Year laurels, joining two-time honoree Eileen Canney (2006 and 2007). The sophomore hurler closed out the Big Ten season with an 18-1 record while leading the Big Ten with 188 strikeouts. The Jefferson City, Mo., native also allowed opponents to hit only .146 during conference play.
Taylor, a native of Valencia, Calif., becomes the 10th Michigan player to be named Freshman of the Year. She went 10-0 in conference play, while striking out 80 batters, and only allowing conference opponents to hit at a .156 clip. Taylor joins teammate Samantha Findlay, who was honored in 2005, as the conference’s top freshman, as well as former Wolverines Patti Benedict (1990), Kelly Kovach (1992), Tracy Carr (1993), Sara Griffin (1995), Traci Conrad (1996), Melissa Gentile (1997), Kelsey Kollen (1999) and Nicole Motycka (2002)
Michigan’s Hutchins claims top coaching laurels after leading the Wolverines to a share of the Big Ten title, marking the 12th time in program history that they have been crowned. This is U-M’s first title since the 2005 campaign. In a deadlock with Northwestern, the Wolverines needed to win their final two games of the season against Penn State to clinch a share of the title. Michigan upended the surging Nittany Lions, 2-0 and 3-0, to end the season. The Wolverines finished the Big Ten season with an 18-2 mark, while claiming the No. 2 seed in this week’s Big Ten Tournament. Hutchins picks up her 10th Big Ten Coach of the Year accolade.
In addition, the conference office announced honorees from each team for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. The student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. The student-athletes also must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. Honorees for softball are Illinois’ Katie Gaitros, Indiana’s Anna Olson, Iowa’s Summer Downs, Michigan’s Teddi Ewing, Michigan State’s Nikki Nicosia, Minnesota’s Colleen Conway, Northwestern’s Jessica Rigas, Ohio State’s Brittany Vanderink, Penn State’s Rebecca Bautista, Purdue’s Tara Palmer and Wisconsin’s Theresa Boruta. These 11 student-athletes are now candidates for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, as the conference office will honor one male and one female student-athlete from each institution at the end of the school year.
The 2008 Big Ten Softball Tournament gets underway Thursday through Saturday, May 10. All four of Friday’s games as well as the championship game on Saturday will be aired live on the Big Ten Network with coverage beginning at 9 a.m. CT on Friday. Visit www.bigten.org for additional tournament information.
A complete list of the 2008 Big Ten softball postseason honors follows.
2008 ALL-BIG TEN SOFTBALL TEAMS AND POSTSEASON HONORS
FIRST TEAM
1B *Dorian Shaw, Fr., MICH
2B *Samantha Findlay, Sr., MICH
3B Shanna Diller, Sr., ILL
SS Tammy Williams, Jr., NU
C Samantha Marder, So., OSU
UT Nikki Nemitz, So., MICH
OF *Angela Findlay, So., MICH
OF Alessandra Giampaolo, Sr., MICH
OF *Nikki Nicosia, Sr., MSU
DP Katie Brown, So., IOWA
P Jordan Taylor, Fr., MICH
P Lauren Delaney, So., NU
SECOND TEAM
1B Michelle Batts, Fr., NU
2B Nicole Pauly, So., NU
3B Robin Thompson, Fr., NU
SS Teddi Ewing, Jr., MICH
C Erin Dyer, Jr., NU
UT Colleen McGlaughlin, Jr., IOWA
OF Sarah Bryers, Sr., ILL
OF Hope Howell, So., ILL
OF Kelly Quinn, Fr., NU
DP Emily Haug, So., NU
P Brittany Weil, Jr., IOWA
P Briana Hassett, Jr., MINN
THIRD TEAM
1B Malisa Barnes, Fr., MINN
2B Kelly Miller, Jr., PUR
3B Colleen Conway, Jr., MINN
SS Bianca Mejia, Fr., MSU
C Jenna Alexander, So., PUR
UT Ashley Esparza, Sr., PSU
OF Quinn Morelock, Jr., IOWA
OF Sila Fernandez, Sr., MINN
OF Dee Dee Hillman, Fr., OSU
DP Jessica LeFevre, Sr., MSU
P Suzie Rzegocki, Fr., PUR
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Tammy Williams, NU
PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Lauren Delaney, NU
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Jordan Taylor, MICH
COACH OF THE YEAR: Carol Hutchins, MICH
2008 SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD HONOREES
Katie Gaitros, ILL
Jessica Rigas, NU
Anna Olson, IND
Brittany Vanderink, OSU
Summer Downs, IOWA
Rebecca Bautista, PSU
Teddi Ewing, MICH
Tara Palmer, PUR
Nikki Nicosia, MSU
Theresa Boruta, WIS
Colleen Conway, MINN
*- Unanimous selection
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