NEW YORK – With the regular season complete and the 2017 BIG EAST Softball Championship presented by Jeep two days away, the Conference announced its annual award winners and All-BIG EAST Teams on Wednesday.
For a second consecutive year, Villanova boasted the BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year as senior Brette Lawrence garnered the honors, while Seton Hall’s Alexis Walkden was named BIG EAST Player of the Year and DePaul’s Jessica Cothern was selected BIG EAST Freshman of the Year. Top-seeded St. John’s and head coach Amy Kvilhaug rounded out the major awards by nabbing BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year.
A dependable hurler for the Wildcats, Lawrence capped off her senior season throwing a league-high 88.2 innings while recording a BIG EAST-best 10 wins in the circle. The Wildcat was selected BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week twice this season and was the only pitcher in the league to be recognized as the Louisville Slugger NFCA National Division I Pitcher of the Week. Overall, Lawrence ranks 29th in the NCAA in strikeouts with 184, including a league-best 85 posted in BIG EAST play.
Hot at the plate for Seton Hall, Walkden is the first Pirate to be honored as the BIG EAST Player of the Year since Lauren Taylor in 2005. Batting a team-best .373, the junior third baseman led SHU with 22 hits, 21 runs batted in, 15 runs scored and a conference-best .814 slugging percentage. She also tied for a league-best 48 total bases while ranking second in the BIG EAST in walks (21) and home runs (7).
A true freshman for DePaul, Cothern led all rookies with a .452 batting average and a conference-high 28 hits. The catcher ranked second on the DePaul roster in batting average, knocking in 14 runs behind four homers and three doubles. Cothern also helped the Blue Demons to a .949 fielding percentage with 100 putouts.
Kvilhaug led the Red Storm to their second BIG EAST regular-season title in the last three years with a team-record 17 league wins. The Johnnies last won the title in 2015 with 16 conference wins. As a team, St. John’s topped the league in batting average at .350 in conference games. St. John’s also led the BIG EAST with 307 total bases, 207 hits, 157 runs scored, 140 RBI and 38 stolen bases. In the circle, the Red Storm paced the league with 135 strike outs and showed the conference’s second-lowest earned run average at 3.14.
Each All-BIG EAST Team consists of 12 players: two pitchers, one catcher, first baseman, second baseman, short stop, third baseman, utility/pitcher, designated player/non-pitcher and three outfielders. St. John’s led all teams with seven all-league selections including four first-team honorees.
DePaul also put four players on the first team while Villanova collected a pair first-team nods and two second-team selections. Creighton and Providence each added three total picks, including one first-team honor for the Bluejays. Butler had pair of second-team honors while Seton Hall claimed a first-team selection in Walkden. Walkden, Villanova first baseman Nikki Alden, St. John’s second baseman Lexi Robles and outfielder Lauren Zick were unanimous All-BIG EAST First Team selections.
BIG EAST Championship teams combined for 17 of the 24 All-BIG EAST selections. The two-day tournament in suburban Chicago at the Ballpark at Rosemont begins Friday, May 12, with top-seeded St. John’s matching up against fourth-seeded Butler in the first semifinal set for 1 p.m. ET. No. 2 DePaul versus No. 3 Villanova follows in the second semifinal at 4 p.m. The semifinal winners advance to Saturday’s final, set for 2:30 p.m. (ET). All three games will air live on FS2.
2017 BIG EAST Player of the Year
Alexis Walkden, Seton Hall, Jr., 3B
2017 BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year
Brette Lawrence, Villanova, Sr.
2017 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year
Jessica Cothern, DePaul, C
2017 BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year
St. John’s
2017 All-BIG EAST First Team
Brette Lawrence, Villanova, Sr., P
Missy Zoch, DePaul, Fr., P
Jessica Cothern, DePaul, Fr., C
Nikki Alden, Villanova, Jr., 1B*
Lexi Robles, St. John’s, Sr., 2B
Alexis Walkden, Seton Hall, Jr., 3B*
Monique Landini, St. John’s, Sr., SS*
Lauren Zick, St. John’s, Jr., OF*
Micah Fitzgerald, DePaul, Sr., OF
Sam Dellinger, Creighton, Fr., OF
Gretchen Bowie, St. John’s, Fr., UT
Nicole Pihl, DePaul, Sr., DP
2017 All-BIG EAST Second Team
Madison Morris, St. John’s, So., P
Tori Free, St. John’s, Sr., P
Nicole Lundstrom, Providence, Sr., C
Julianne Rurka, Providence, Jr., 1B
Aujanae McCoy, Creighton, Sr., 2B
Lauren Herschberg, Villanova, Sr., 3B
Brittany Husk, Villanova, Jr., SS
Jenna Foreman, Butler, So., OF
Emma Lee, Providence, So., OF
Ashley Cantu, Creighton, Fr., OF
Kaitlin Doud, Butler, So., UT
Savannah Warren, St. John’s, Jr., DP
*unanimous selection