Softball

Twinsburg, OH - A total of forty-five student athletes, including five Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) softball players, were named to the 2004 Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-America teams, as announced Thursday, May 13, by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.

Muskingum had an unprecedented four players named to the three squads, including sophomore pitcher Erica Hoyt (Tipp City/Bethel), junior outfielder April Rader (Bucyrus/Colonel Crawford), junior designated player Nicole Blubaugh (New Lexington) and senior third baseman Shauna Jellison (Zanesville/Maysville).  Hoyt was joined by Baldwin Wallace sophomore catcher Nicole Loudin (Sheffield Lake/Elyria Catholic) on the first team, while Rader was named to the second team and both Blubaugh and Jellison were  named to the third team.

Hoyt, earning first team honors for the second straight year, currently leads all of Division III with 37 wins heading into the 2004 NCAA Division III Championship this weekend.  She set the OAC single-season strikeout record with 272 and counting, while also becoming the school's career leader in strikeouts.  Hoyt is also the two-time recipient of the OAC John Wells Pitcher-of-the-Year award (2003 and '04).  Hoyt was also named Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division III Player-of-the-Week earlier this season.  

Loudin, the lone non-Muskie to earn All-America honors in 2004, topped the Yellow Jackets in batting average (.430), runs scored (26), base hits (43),  home runs (11), runs batted-in (34), slugging average (.870), bases on balls drawn (20) and on-base average (521).  After two seasons in the Brown & Gold, Loudin is batting .407 with a BW career-record 21 homers and 75 RBI.  Loudin was a second team All-American in 2003. 

Rader, earning All-America honors for the first time in her career, set personal bests this season in hits (48), RBI (15), runs (31), doubles (8), slugging percentage (.500) and batting average (.381).  She was an All-OAC First Team pick this year and was named to the OAC All-Tournament team.  

Blubaugh leads the Muskies in hits (61), doubles (18), home runs (9) and slugging percentage (.707) and is second on the team in batting (.407), runs scored (37) and RBI (40).  She was also a First Team All-OAC pick this year, while earning All-America honors for the second straight year.

Jellison currently leads the Muskies in batting average (.412) and RBI (41) and is second on the team in slugging percentage (.706), homers (8) and hits (49).  Earlier this year, Jellison was named Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division III Player-of-the-Week and First Team All-OAC.  

Players Named to the Central Region Teams: FIRST TEAM - Erica Hoyt, MUSK, Nicole Loudin, BW, Shauna Jellison, MUSK, April Rader, MUSK and Nicole Blubaugh, MUSK ... SECOND TEAM - Crystal Thomas, MTU, Jen Shay, MUSK, Lindsay Bramhall, MUSK, Ronda Barth, MTU, Danielle LoVaglio, JCU and Jackie Burris, CAP ... THIRD TEAM - Deana McKee, CAP, Erin Myers, MTU, Bridget Knazek, JCU

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Julie Work
Information Director
Ohio Athletic Conference
P.O. Box 400
Twinsburg, OH 44087
Ph -- 330-963-0444
Fax -- 330-963-0459
www.oac.org