Rychcik Leads Seven Terriers To America East Honors
May 9, 2012 | Softball
May 9, 2012
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Led by 2012 America East Co-Coach of the Year Shawn Rychcik, seven members of the Boston University softball team were recognized with All-Conference honors, as announced by the America East on Wednesday, May 9.
Junior Emily Roesch and sophomores Brittany Clendenny and Jayme Mask were named to the All-Conference First Team while junior Whitney Tuthill and sophomores Holli Floetker and Megan Volpano earned All-Conference Second Team honors. Freshman Mandy Fernandez was named to the All-Rookie Team.
Rychcik shares Coach of the Year honors with Stony Brook’s Megan Bryant, marking the third straight season he has won the award and fourth time in his eight year career. He guided the Terriers to their third straight regular season title with a 37-14 overall record and 15-3 mark in America East play. His squad currently ranks No. 18 in the Mid-Major Poll and boasts one of the top pitching staffs in the nation, ranking 19th with an ERA of 1.85.
Roesch returned to the field in 2012 after missing last season due to injury and earned All-Conference First Team honors. The 2009 Rookie of the Year and 2010 second team selection started 48 games for the Terriers at second base. She is batting .288 with 38 hits and 25 RBIs. Roesch came up big for the Terriers in their last series of the season at UMBC, batting .625 with five hits, including a triple and a home run. She also drove in five runs in the three games.
Joining Roesch on the first team is fellow infielder Clendenny. The sophomore started every game for BU at shortstop and finished the regular season tied for second on the team in batting average (.331) and hits (51). Clendenny lead the Terriers in extra base hits, ranking second in the conference with 14 doubles and first on BU with eight home runs with a .578 slugging percentage. During a standout week earlier this season, Clendenny swung for six doubles and three home runs, including a grand slam, through six games en route to earning her second America East Player of the Week award on April 30.
Fellow sophomore Mask also earned a spot on the first team after being a second team selection a year ago. Mask leads the Terriers with a .352 batting average and is tied for second on the team with 51 hits. The speedy right fielder has swiped a team high 19 bases while scoring 35 runs on the season. Mask also owns the Terriers longest hitting streak of the season, going 11 games with at least one hit from March 2 to March 21.
A pair of pitchers earned All-Conference Second Team honors, as Floetker and Tuthill received the recognition. Floetker, the 2011 Pitcher of the Year, finished the regular season with a 17-3 record and 1.39 ERA, which ranks 22nd in the nation. The sophomore ranks third in the conference with 133 strikeouts in 150.2 innings pitched.
After appearing on the All-Rookie Team in 2010, Tuthill joins Floetker on the second team after posting a 13-5 record during the regular season. Her ERA of 1.78 ranks 59th in all of Division I. Tuthill is second on the team with 126.0 innings pitched and 81 strikeouts.
Volpano was also bestowed with second team honors for the second consecutive season after starting all 51 games at third base. The sophomore leads the team with 52 hits and ranks third in the conference with 35 RBIs. Volpano is second on BU with 13 doubles and a .331 batting average. She is currently riding a 29 game reached base streak, the longest for any Terrier this season.
Fernandez received All-Rookie accolades after appearing in 33 games during her first season with the Terriers. She posted 20 RBIs off of 15 hits during the regular season, with more than half resulting in an extra base hit. Fernandez totaled four doubles and five home runs, including a trio of three-run blasts. She seemed to save her best for last, as she hit her first career grand slam in the top of the fifth inning in BU’s 10-1 win in its regular season finale at UMBC to allow the Terriers to clinch the regular season title.
The top-seeded Terriers host the America East tournament from Thursday, May 10, to Saturday, May 12, at the BU Softball field. BU begins play against No. 4 Maine on Thursday at 1 p.m.
