Sage Gators among the NCAA Softball Leaders
Indianapolis, IN – The Sage Colleges' softball team finished the season with a 22-19 record and appearances in both the 2013 ECAC Metro Tournament and the Skyline Conference Tournament. They capped head coach Jamie Brown's second season with the squad's second straight ECAC Metro Runner-up crown and produced the team's second straight 20+ wins campaign.
With the release of the latest NCAA Division III softball statistics, a number of Sage's players are listed as ranked performers.
Sophomore second baseman, Kristen Beikirch (Brockport, NY/Brockport) continues to add to her extensive resume as she earned a spot on the 2013 CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-District First Team after also being named Sage's 2012-2013 Female Athlete of the Year as well as the 2013 Skyline Conference Softball Player of the Year, ranks nationally in five different categories. She ranks No. 43 in runs scored per game (1.12), while ranking 73rd in batting average (0.444). She is also ranked in slugging percentage (0.688) as well as home runs (6), and triples (3).
She not only leads Sage in batting average, but the entire conference in batting with her blistering .444 and broke her own record from a year ago as she connected for 64 hits this season, two more than last year's 62 hits. She also added a team-leading 11 doubles, three triples, and six home runs. She had a .688 slugging percentage that matched her impressive .464 on-base percentage. Beikirch had 17 multiple-hit games this season, while starting all 41 games for the Gators.
Beikirch is already making her own run for several of Sage's career marks in just two seasons on the softball diamond. She already has 126 career hits in 87 games played and started, while carrying a .439 career batting average and 12 home runs, while ranking 5th in career hits, 5th in career home runs and third in runs scored.
Also ranked is junior short stop Hillary Faas (East Greenbush, NY/Columbia), a 2013 Skyline Conference All-Star First Team pick. Faas was a 41-game starter and ranks 51st nationally with her three sacrifice flies. She has a .346 batting average with a .569 slugging percentage on 11 doubles and six home runs and a team-best 28 RBIs this season. A two-time Skyline Conference Player of the Week this past season, she is making a run at a number of Sage career marks in her three seasons of play as she already ranks No. 9 in career games played (114), No. 4 in at-bats (369), No. 3 in hits (133), and No. 3 in doubles (32). She is also tied for No. 2 in career home runs with 14 and No. 3 three in runs scored (85).
Senior pitcher and utility performer, Kelsey Newberg (New Britain, CT/New Britain) was named to the 2013 Second Team at two positions as she was chosen as both a starting pitcher and a utility player. Another of Sage's 2013 CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-District Honorees, Newberg was also named Sage's Gator of the Year in softball for the second time in her career as she won the awards in both 2011 and 2013. Twice this spring she was named the Skyline Conference Pitcher of the Week as well as the ECAC Metro NY-NJ Pitcher of the Week once on another occasion. She has shattered several of Sage's career pitching marks, while also making quite a statement as a performer at the plate in her three seasons in a Sage uniform. She holds the career record for most strikeouts 261 and most wins 28, while ranking among the top performers as well in innings with 339.0 (No. 2), complete games (36, No. 5), and ERA with a 3.28, which is seventh. She also holds Sage single-season marks for most games (30), most wins (16), and most strikeouts (119). She ranks in the Top 15 in several categories as well having played in 109 games with 329 at-bats, 96 hits and 12 doubles.
Newberg ranks nationally with her two shutout wins as well as ranking nationally with her 7.16 hits allowed per seven innings of work. Her 2.99 ERA in 2013, ranks 212th, while her 5.1 strikeouts per seven innings is ranked 158th.
Sage's rookie pitcher Katie Kovage (Hoosick Falls, NY/Hoosick Falls Central) is ranked nationally with her four shutout wins (No. 90). Kovage earned three Skyline Conference Rookie of the Week selections this past season. She also led the team with her 10-3 record and a 2.07 ERA. Nationally she is ranked 94th in ERA, as well a 73rd with her 5.85 hits per seven innings average as well as with her 2.0 walks allowed per seven innings average. She added a 2.07 ERA in 23 appearances, while fanning 61 batters. She ranks in a number of pitching single-season categories in her collegiate debut as her 10 wins in No. 5 and her 23 appearances in 8th. Her 101.2 innings pitches stand 12th in the Gator single-season annuls, and her 61 K's is seventh highest. She also batted .340, which was fourth highest on the team in 2013.
