Gator softball players among the national Division III statistical leaders
Indianapolis, IN – The Sage
Colleges' softball team finished the season with a 22-19 record and
made appearances in both the 2013 ECAC Metro Tournament and the
Skyline Conference Tournaments. 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 final NCAA Division III softball statistics, a number of Sage's players are listed as ranked performers. As a team, Sage ranked as well in 11 different categories including ranking 33rd in Division III with their 1.71 doubles per game average after connecting for 70 on the season and boasted a combined 0.434 slugging percentage, which ranked 102nd in Division III.
Sophomore second baseman, Kristen Beikirch (Brockport, NY/Brockport), a 2013 CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-American Third Team honoree and the 2012-2013 Sage Female Athlete of the Year, finished her second season with another record-setting pace. Named the 2013 Skyline Conference Softball Player of the Year, she checks in nationally in six different categories. She ranks No. 43 in runs scored per game (1.12), while ranking 72nd in batting average (0.444). She also ranked in slugging percentage (0.688, No. 116) as well as home runs (6, No. 166), triples (3, No. 158) and on-base percentage (0.464, No. 250).
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 from Sage 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 ranked 50th nationally with her three sacrifice flies and No. 166 with her 6.0 home runs on the season. She had a .346 batting average with a .569 slugging percentage on 11 doubles and six home runs and a team-best 28 RBIs this past 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), a decorated performer, who was recently named the 2012-2013 Skyline Conference NCAA Woman of the Year after also earning acclaim on the 2013 Skyline Conference Softball All-Star Second Team at two positions after earning a spot as a starting pitcher and as a utility player. Newberg finished the season ranked nationally with her two shutout wins (No. 230) as well as ranking nationally with her 7.16 hits allowed per seven innings of work (No. 174). Her 2.99 ERA in 2013, ranked 213th, while her 5.1 strikeouts per seven innings was ranked 159th.
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 past spring she was named the Skyline Conference Pitcher of the Week and earned an additional citation as the ECAC Metro NY-NJ Pitcher of the Week once. 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.
Sage's rookie pitcher Katie Kovage (Hoosick Falls, NY/Hoosick Falls Central) capped her first collegiate season in a strong fashion as well, earning recognition in five categories. She was ranked nationally with her four shutout wins (No. 90). Kovage earned three Skyline Conference Rookie of the Week selections in her collegiate debut after she led the team with her 10-3 record and a 2.07 ERA. Nationally she ranked 94th in ERA, as well 75th with her 5.85 hits per seven innings average as well as with her 2.0 walks allowed per seven innings average. She checked in at the No. 243 spot with her 4.2 strikeouts per seven innings and also at No. 189 with her 2.0 walks per seven innings pitched 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.
