May 11, 2005

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Virginia Tech softball players Megan Evans and Kelly Brown were honored by the Atlantic Coast Conference, both being named second-team All-ACC, as announced Wednesday night at the pre-tournament banquet.

"Both Kelly and Megan are very deserving of these honors," said head coach Scot Thomas. "They've both been leaders this season for this team and we're going to need them to continue leading the team through the ACC Tournament. I'm very proud of them. With this being our first year in the ACC, this is a great honor to be the first All-ACC performers in the history of Virginia Tech softball."

Evans, who leads the team in batting average (.322), home runs (12), RBI (42) and walks (39), was rewarded for a stellar non-conference season despite having average stats in conference play. In 17 ACC games, the senior from Mansfield, Pa., hit just .205, but was walked 17 times, including three intentional walks in a game against Georgia Tech.

Evans was named a second-team All-BIG EAST selection a year ago and is a three-time All-Northeast Region selection. She is Tech's all-time leader in home runs (46), RBI (153), walks (109) and numerous other categories.

Brown enters the ACC Tournament on a school-record 19-game hitting streak - the longest current streak in the conference - and has raised her batting average to .321 on the season. During the streak, she is hitting .420 and hit .392 with seven doubles in conference play.

The junior from Dale City, Va., enters the tourney with 68 hits on the season, just five away from setting a new school record for hits in a season (72, Kara Krumhardt, 1999). Last season, she was named second-team All-Northeast Region.

Virginia's Sara Larquier was tabbed ACC Softball Player of the Year. Larquier leads all conference players in total bases, slugging percentage, doubles, triples and RBI and is fourth in batting with a .352 average in 2005. Larquier is currently tied for third among all ACC players with 51 career doubles, fifth with 153 RBI and seventh with 27 home runs. This season the junior third baseman became Virginia's single-season record holder for extra-base hits with 34, while tying the single season school record with 19 doubles. Larquier becomes the third Cavalier player to be selected as the ACC Player of the Year.

Georgia Tech's Jessica Sallinger was honored as the inaugural winner of the ACC Softball Pitcher of the Year. In the circle, Sallinger leads the ACC in wins (24), shutouts (13) and strikeouts (324), while holding the opposition to a league-low .142 batting average. The senior hurler became the league's all-time strikeout leader in 2005 and is just three wins shy of becoming the ACC's all-time winningest pitcher. Sallinger ranks sixth in the NCAA in career strikeouts, 10^th in strikeout per game ratio (9.8) and tied for 29^th in career wins (105).

Georgia Tech's Aileen Morales and Florida State's Tiffany McDonald shared Freshman of the Year accolades in 2005. Morales currently leads the ACC with 44 stolen bases and ranks third in the nation in stolen bases per game at 0.75. Her 44 stolen bases broke the Georgia Tech single season school record. The freshman second baseman also posted a .310 batting average in the leadoff spot for the Yellow Jackets and was second in the ACC with 39 runs scored.

McDonald finished the 2005 regular season with a 14-8 record and led Florida State with a 1.60 ERA. The freshman hurler made 30 appearances on the season and threw the most innings for a freshman in Florida State history with 152.2 innings of work. McDonald finished sixth in the ACC in ERA, eighth in wins and ninth in strikeouts with 6.51 per game.

Georgia Tech's Ehren Earleywine was honored as the ACC Softball Coach of the Year. Earleywine led the Yellow Jackets to a 46-12 mark, an 11-4 record in ACC play and a No. 1 seed in the upcoming ACC Tournament for the first in school history. Under the tutelage of Earleywine, Georgia Tech has spent 15 straight weeks in the USA Softball and NFCA Top 25 polls with their highest ranking of 13 coming in week four. He has led the Yellow Jackets to pair of 40-plus win seasons in his two years at Georgia Tech, while carrying an overall winning percentage of .750 (93-31). Earleywine becomes just the third Yellow Jacket head coach to win this award.

Virginia Tech enters this weekend's double-elimination conference tournament as the No. 7 seed and will open with second-seeded Florida State tomorrow at approximately 1:30 p.m. Win or lose, the Hokies will play again on Friday, either at 11 a.m. (win) or 1:30 p.m. (loss) against either third-seeded Virginia or sixth-seeded Maryland.

2005 ACC All-Conference First Team
Jen Chamberlin, N.C. State
Anna Evans, North Carolina
Amy Hosier, Georgia Tech
Natasha Jacob, Florida State
Lindsay Klein, Maryland
Sara Larquier, Virginia
Caitlin Lever, Georgia Tech
Jessica Sallinger, Georgia Tech
Christine Sheridan, Georgia Tech
Abbie Sims, N.C. State
Jenn Wynn. Virginia

2005 ACC All-Conference Second Team
Kelly Brown, Virginia Tech
Elea Crockett, Virginia
Crystal Cox, North Carolina
Megan Evans, Virginia Tech
Heather Gelbard, N.C. State
Casey Hunter, Florida State
Aileen Morales, Georgia Tech
Jessica Taylor, Virginia
Melissa Wood. Florida State

Player of the Year
Sara Larquier, Virginia

Pitcher of the Year
Jessica Sallinger, Georgia Tech

Freshman of the Year
Tiffany McDonald, Florida State
Aileen Morales, Georgia Tech

Coach of the Year
Ehren Earleywine, Georgia Tech