MOREHEAD, KY. – Morehead State softball placed four players on the 2010 All Ohio Valley Conference Teams, and first baseman
Amber Riddle was named the league’s Freshman of the Year.
Senior pitcher
Alex Gjevre (Billings, Mont.) was named First-Team All OVC for the third consecutive season, while junior third baseman
Rebecca Butler (Pendleton, Ind.), freshman shortstop
Kayla Ashbrook (Canton, Ohio), and Riddle (Morehead, Ky.) earned nods on the Second Team. Riddle and Ashbrook also earned spots on the All Newcomer Team.
Riddle becomes the first MSU player in school history to be named OVC Freshman of the Year. She led the team in home runs with eight and RBI with 34. Her home run total ranks tied for second on the MSU single season chart, and her RBI numbers rank as the fourth best single season total in program history. She currently has a .285 batting average with 37 hits and six doubles. She also led the team with 15 RBI against OVC opponents.
“Amber is a player that has come around nicely for us. She struggled early in fall but worked at evolving to Division I pitching and with her athletic ability on defense,” said head coach Holly Bruder. “She digs balls in the dirt at first and is now a big hitter for us on offense. As a freshman, that’s huge. This kid will be fun to watch over the next three years.”
Gjevre led the league in strikeouts for the second straight year with 189 and also ranked among league leaders in ERA (1.98) and wins (14). She currently has tied her own school single season record for appearances with 38 and has posted four shutouts. She is the Eagles’ career leader in wins, strikeouts, appearances, starts and lowest ERA. She also holds season records for wins, strikeouts, appearances, starts and strikeouts per seven innings. She was named the 2008 OVC Pitcher of the Year and has been an NFCA All Region honoree the last two years.
“Alex is fun to watch when she is on. She is a pitcher that keeps us in every game we played. She had a rough start this year and I think that’s because she put too much pressure on herself,” said Bruder. “She got it under control and has been impressive with an ERA under 2.0. and with our hitters in this conference, that’s amazing.”
Butler, who earned all conference for the third consecutive year as well, is MSU’s career leader in home runs with 20. She has clubbed seven homers this season and leads the team with a .302 batting average. Butler also tops the team with 45 hits and has driven in 26 runs. She has added seven doubles as well and boasts a .409 slugging percentage.
Ashbrook has ranked among the team’s top two hitters for a majority of the season and led the team in batting average (.326) against OVC competition. Overall, she is hitting .301 with 41 hits and seven stolen bases. She has three doubles and 14 RBI.
“These kids are the rock of our infield. They make defensive plays look easy and work for our pitcher defensively every game. Offensively, they lead the team as well. This is a great honor for these girls individually,” said Bruder.
Bruder was also proud to have two freshman named to the All-Newcomer Team.
“Here are two kids (Ashbrook and Riddle) that have started almost every game for us this year. When you have seven seniors, that’s saying a lot about their ability and how hard they’ve worked for their spots,” she said. “Shortstop is a big position at this level, and Kayla has been amazing. Amber has been a timely hitter for us and improves daily at the plate.”
UT Martin received the three other major league awards. Megan Williams was the Player of the Year, Paij Lintz was named Pitcher of the Year, and Donley Canary is the Coach of the Year.
The third-seeded Eagles open the tournament in Martin, Tenn., on Thursday at noon EST against sixth-seeded Tennessee Tech.
