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Mustangs
Win 30 Games During 2004 Campaign
Mustangs
Place Three On All-GPAC 2nd Team
Davis
Named NAIA Region IV Pitcher Of The Week
Two-Time
State Pitcher Of The Year To Join Mustangs For 2005 Season
Mustangs
4th In GPAC Pre-Season Poll
Heidi Young, a senior
outfielder from Sioux City, Iowa, has been named a 2004 Daktronics-NAIA
Softball All-America Scholar-Athlete.
Young has a 3.77 cumulative grade point average (GPA) with
a major in biology.
Young also received NAIA All-America Scholar-Athlete honors
last year.
Daktronics-NAIA All-America Scholar-Athletes must have junior
or senior academic standing and maintain a minimum cumulative
GPA of 3.50 or higher.
Young batted .246 with nine doubles, two triples, 21 RBIs,
13 runs scored, four sacrifices, and seven base on balls this
past season as the Mustangs’ starting right fielder.
She helped lead the Mustangs to a 30-22 record during the
2004 campaign.
Click here
for the complete list of 2004 Softball Daktronics All-America
Scholar-Athletes.
Morningside posted
a 30-22 record during the recently completed 2004 softball
season.
The 30 wins, combined with a 35-19 finish a year ago, gave
the Mustangs their first back-to-back 30-win seasons since
the 1996 and 1997 teams went 37-15 and 32-21, respectively.
The Mustangs had one school-record breaking performance this
season courtesy of Jenna Jurrens. Jurrens, a freshman
second baseman from George, Iowa, worked opposing pitchers
for 29 base on balls to break the former Morningside single-season
standard of 25 walks by Dana McDaniels in 1994.
Aside from leading the team in walks, Jurrens also topped
the Mustangs with a .535 slugging percentage and a .449 on-base
percentage and was their co-leader with 26 RBIs. Jurrens ranked
second on the team with 13 stolen bases for the fifth highest
single-season total in Morningside history.
Molly Moser, a sophomore outfielder from Mapleton,
Iowa, led the Mustangs with 15 stolen bases in 16 attempts
for the third highest stolen base total in the Morningside
record book. Moser also topped the Mustangs with six triples
and 15 sacrifices and was their co-leader with 48 hits. She
was also the Mustangs’ toughest batter to strike out
with only 10 strikeouts in 167 at-bats.
The Mustangs’ leading hitter was Tracy Bruntz,
a freshman catcher from Addison, Ill., who collected 36 hits
in 111 at-bats for a .324 batting average.
B.J. Rohlena, a freshman shortstop from Sioux City,
led the Mustangs in several offensive categories. She paced
the team with six home runs and 37 runs scored and was their
co-leader with 48 hits.
Melissa Staley, a senior third baseman from Sioux City,
led the Mustangs with 14 doubles and was their co-leader with
26 RBIs.
The ace of the Mustangs’ pitching staff was Christianna
Nelson, a freshman from Edina, Minn., who posted an 18-10
record for the fifth highest single-season victory total in
Morningside history. Nelson also topped the Mustangs with
a 2.58 earned run average, 26 starts, 20 complete games, 179.1
innings pitched, and 106 strikeouts.
Morningside’s
Tracy Bruntz, Jenna Jurrens, and Molly Moser
were all named to the 2004 All-Great Plains Athletic Conference
(GPAC) Softball second-team as selected by the league’s
head coaches.
Bruntz, a freshman catcher from Addison, Ill., was the Mustangs’
leading hitter during the regular season with 35 hits in 105
at-bats for a .333 batting average. Bruntz had six doubles
and 14 RBIs.
Jurrens, a freshman second baseman from George, Iowa, batted
.319 with six doubles, five triples, five home runs, 26 RBIs,
and 12 stolen bases. Jurrens led the Mustangs with five home
runs, 35 runs scored, 29 base on balls, a .548 slugging percentage,
and a .456 on-base percentage and was their co-leader with
26 RBIs. She established a school record with her 29 base
on balls to break the former Morningside single-season standard
of 25 walks in a season by Dana McDaniels in 1994.
Moser, a sophomore outfielder from Mapleton, Iowa, hit .281
with eight doubles, six triples, 13 RBIs, and 15 stolen bases.
She led the Mustangs with her six triples and 15 stolen bases,
the second highest single-season stolen base total in Morningside
history. Moser was one of the Mustangs’ best contact
hitters with only 10 strikeouts in 160 at-bats.
In addition to their second-team selections, the Mustangs’
B.J. Rohlena and Melissa Staley were each tabbed
to the All-GPAC honorable mention list.
Rohlena, a freshman shortstop from Sioux City, batted .297
with nine doubles, four triples, 19 RBIs, and 11 stolen bases.
Staley, a senior third baseman from Sioux City, hit .297 with
14 doubles, four triples, 26 RBIs, and eight stolen bases.
Staley topped the Mustangs with 46 hits and 14 doubles and
was their co-leader with 26 RBIs.
Morningside took a 29-20 record into the 2004 GPAC Softball
Championships held May 6 and 7 at Hastings, Neb.
Click here
for the complete All-GPAC team.
Jenna Davis, a sophomore
from Cedar Falls, Iowa, has been named the NAIA Region IV
Softball Pitcher of the Week.
Davis went 3-0 with two shutouts last week and did not allow
an earned run in 21 innings. Davis allowed only 14 hits and
struck out five in the three games to help the Mustangs post
a 5-1 record for the week to improve their season's ledger
to 26-15.
Davis improved her own season's record to 9-5 and lowered
her earned run average to 2.76.
She opened the week with a two-hit shutout with one walk and
two strikeouts in the Mustangs' 7-0 win against Dordt College
on April 13. Davis also threw a shutout in her next start
when she blanked Hastings College 5-0 with a four-hitter on
April 17. She had two walks and two strikeouts against the
Broncos. Davis allowed two runs, both unearned, on eight hits
when the Mustangs defeated York College 3-2 on April 25. She
walked three and struck out one against York.
Morningside will host Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC)
leader Midland Lutheran College to a 5 p.m. doubleheader on
Friday, April 23.
Two-Time
State Pitcher Of The Year To Join Mustangs
Morningside College
head softball coach Jessica Jones-Sitzmann scored a major
recruiting triumph when Whitney McElrath, a senior
at Woodbury Central High School of Moville, Iowa, made a commitment
to attend Morningside next fall.
McElrath, Iowa’s 2002 and 2003 Class 1A Pitcher of the
Year, has a 117-32 career record at Woodbury Central and is
a four-time all-stater. She pitched the Wildcats to Iowa’s
Class 1A state championship in 2002.
In McElrath, the Mustangs are getting a pitcher who can dominate
the opposition. This past summer she struck out 417 batters
for an average of 10.35 strikeouts per game and allowed only
123 hits and 12 base on balls in 282 innings en route to first-team
elite and first-team Class 1A all-state honors. She posted
a 37-5 record with a 0.55 earned run average. McElrath’s
417 strikeouts was the sixth highest total in the state and
she was the state leader in strikeout to walk ratio.
Aside from her pitching prowess, McElrath has also been an
outstanding hitter during her prep career. She batted .424
with 12 doubles, one triple, one home run, and 41 RBI’s
last summer.
“She will be a great addition to our team,” said
Jones-Sitzmann. “We feel very fortunate that one of
the best pitchers in the state of Iowa has selected Morningside
College as the place where she wants to further her education
and continue her athletic career.”
McElrath also received first-team Class 1A all-state laurels
as a sophomore when she had a 33-7 record with a 0.61 earned
run average for Woodbury Central’s state championship
team. She struck out 340 batters for the seventh highest total
in the state and surrendered only 133 hits and 36 base on
balls in 262 innings pitched. Offensively she batted .396
with 13 doubles, two triples, two home runs, and 46 RBI’s.
As a freshman, McElrath went 22-13 with a 1.74 earned run
average to earn third-team Class 1A all-state honors. She
struck out 260 batters and allowed only 149 hits and 42 base
on balls in 237 innings pitched. McElrath batted .301 with
five doubles, two triples, and 23 RBI’s.
McElrath was a seventh-team all-stater as an eighth grader.
That season she fashioned a 22-6 pitching record with a 0.98
earned run average, struck out 235 batters, and allowed 130
hits and 41 base on balls in 249 innings pitched. She hit
a career-high .429 with a career-high 17 doubles, two triples,
two home runs, and 35 RBI’s.
Morningside posted a 35-19 record during the 2003 season for
its most victories since a 37-15 finish in 1996. The Mustangs
finished third at the NAIA Region IV Tournament while making
their first post-season appearance since 1995.
GPAC
Coaches Pick Mustangs 4th In Pre-Season Poll
Morningside College
has been picked to finish in fourth place in the GPAC in the
GPAC 2004 pre-season coaches poll.
The Mustangs, in
their debut season as a member of the GPAC, posted a 35-19
record last year for their most victories since a 37-15 finish
in 1996. The Mustangs finished third at the 2003 NAIA Region
IV Tournament while making their first post-season appearance
since 1995.
The results of the
CPAC 2004 softball coaches pre-season poll (first place votes
in parenthesis).
1. Midland Lutheran,
143 points (11)
2. Concordia, 127
3. Northwestern,
118 (2)
4. Morningside,
107
5. Briar Cliff and
Dordt, 86
7. Sioux Falls,
84
8. Doane, 70
9. Dana, 58
10. Hastings, 55
11. Mount Marty,
35
12. Nebraska Wesleyan,
30
13. Dakota Wesleyan,
15
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