Posted: May 07, 2008
May 7, 2008
| BLUFFTON, Ohio - Four Bluffton University softball players were recently honored by the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference coaches for their play on the diamond this spring. Junior LINDSEY MILLER (Wapakoneta/Wapakoneta) was selected Most Valuable Player following her record-shattering season at Bluffton. Sophomores BROOKE BABCOCK(Findlay/Findlay) and JAYME MARBAUGH (Ohio City/Parkway), along with freshman MOLLIE BROWN (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern), were named All-Heartland Conference for their outstanding play this season. |
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Junior shortstop Lindsey Miller battered opposing pitching at a conference-best .462 clip on her way to being named MVP in the Heartland Conference, the first Beaver to claim the honor since Sarah Betts in 2004. She was an even tougher out in HCAC action, finishing with a .515 batting average against league competition. Miller obliterated school records and led the HCAC with 11 home runs, 45 RBI and 97 total bases. She also broke the previous school mark of 48 with 54 hits this season, but freshman Mollie Brown shattered Allison Lange's previous school record with an HCAC-high 57 hits. |
| In conference contests, Miller paced the HCAC with a .553 on-base percentage, a .970 slugging percentage and four home runs. Her .462 batting average and .829 slugging percentage rank second on Bluffton's single season list behind Allison Lange's school marks. Miller was a three-time Heartland Conference Player of the Week this season and she tied the school record with two home runs in a game twice, against Cedarville and Mt. St. Joseph. Following her junior campaign, Miller is the Bluffton all-time leader with a .376 batting average, .583 slugging percentage and 13 career home runs. She is closing in on school marks with 111 hits, 64 RBI and 172 total bases. 2008 marked the second consecutive season that Miller earned All-Heartland Conference honors. |
| Sophomore hurler and DP Brooke Babcock picked up her first All-HCAC post-season award after leading the conference with 13 regular season victories on the mound. She also topped the Heartland Conference with 28 appearances and 23 starts for the Beavers. Babcock was second in the HCAC with 154.2 innings pitched and 124 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .235 batting average for the season. Facing the opposition's number one pitcher all year, Babcock helped herself at the plate with a .269 batting average and 30 RBI, third-best in the HCAC and fourth on the single-season list at Bluffton. She finished the year with 36 hits, three home runs and seven doubles for a .388 slugging percentage. In the circle, the sophomore tossed 20 complete games and went 13-13 with a 2.85 earned run average. | 
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Sophomore Jayme Marbaugh also collected her first All-Heartland Conference honor after a stellar season behind the plate and at third base. Midway through the season, Marbaugh moved back to third base to shore up the Bluffton defense and the changes paid immediate dividends as the Beavers won 13 of their last 14 HCAC contests. Marbaugh was instrumental in Bluffton's success, driving in 32 runs which was second best in the conference to Miller's 45 RBI. She led the HCAC with 13 sacrifice bunts. Marbaugh's 28 runs, 41 hits and 12 doubles were all near the top of the conference and also close to the top of the Bluffton record book. Her ability to not only drive in runs but move runners into scoring position proved to be invaluable as she set the table for HCAC MVP and cleanup hitter Lindsey Miller. |
| Mollie Brown had a stellar freshman season at Bluffton University, earning All-HCAC honors following her first collegiate softball campaign. The outfielder topped the HCAC and moved to the top of the Bluffton record book with 57 hits this season. Her .407 batting average was the sixth-highest ever at Bluffton as well as sixth-best in the conference. She finished the year with a .500 slugging percentage and .454 on-base percentage. Brown also crushed Randi Yaeger's single-season runs scored mark of 32 with a conference-best 42 runs scored. She was one of five Beavers to start all 42 games for Bluffton in 2008. | 
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The Beavers ended their second season under Head Coach Heather Bruder with a 25-17 overall record, including a 13-3 mark in the Heartland Conference. Bluffton earned a share of its first HCAC regular-season championship since 2004 and the Beavers have qualified for the four-team tournament both years since it went to that format. -BEAVERS- |