Six Wayne State softball players were named on the postseason honors list for the Northern Sun Conference, led by Player of the Year honoree Lexie Loos.
The senior outfielder was unquestionably the toughest out in the NSIC this season, finishing second in hitting with a .466 average and fifth in on-base percentage at .496 in league games. Counting all games, she leads the NSIC in hitting (.466), hits (89) and runs scored (58) and is second in on-base percentage (.505) and eighth in total bases (102).
Loos became the all-time school leader in career runs scored, scoring her 158th run against Concordia-St. Paul to surpass the 156 of Amy Sandstrom. She is also third all-time in hits at 247, trailing Sandstrom's all-time mark of 257.
Also receiving postseason honors was senior second baseman Morgan Hoeg, who was tabbed the Newcomer of the Year in the NSIC. Hoeg, a transfer from Austin Peay, batted .321 in league games this year and was fifth on the team in doubles with 10 and she had 10 multi-hit games this season for the 27-24 (21-9 NSIC) Wildcats.
Four Wildcats were named to the NSIC's first-team All-Conference squad, with a fifth making the second team. First-team honorees were Loos, junior Melanie Alyea, and freshmen Abbie Hix and Emily Chandler. Senior Cassy Miller was named to the second team.
Alyea ranked third on the team with a .384 and played first base this season. She was eighth in the league in doubles (14) and ninth in slugging percentage (.470) while finishing 12th in hitting (.384). Her 14 doubles led the team and she was third on the team in hits (53), multi-hit games (17) and mutli-RBI games (6).
Chandler had a fantastic freshman year in left field, hitting .429 in league play and .452 overall. She was second in the NSIC in total bases (73), third in slugging percentage (.745) and on-base percentage (.504) and fifth in RBI's (34). She hit 10 home runs and set a new single-season school record with 52 RBI's and led the team with 15 multi-RBi games and was second in multi-hit games with 23.
Hix, a Wayne High graduate, stepped into the designated player's role and played very well, batting .365 in league games and .345 overall. She was fourth overall on the team in batting average, third in home runs (5) and fifth in RBI's (20). She had nine multi-hit games and four multi-RBI games.
Miller, also a Wayne High graduate, became the staff ace this season to earn second-team All-NSIC honors. She was 16-6 with a 2.45 ERA in NSIC games this season. She led the league in innings pitched (140) and wins (16) and was second in strikeouts (153). She fired her first college no-hitter on April 9 in a 13-0 win over Minnesota Crookston and took a no-hitter into extra innings while striking out a career-high 15 batters in a loss to Upper Iowa on April 21. Overall, Miller was 21-15 with a 3.58 ERA with 12 complete games and four shutouts. In all games, she led the league in innings pitched (223) and starts (35), was third in strikeouts (226) and ninth in opponent batting average (.241).
