Golden Suns finish 10th in final Top 25 poll of 2016
From ATU Sports Info.
Paul Smith, Director of Athletic Communications
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – After completing the most successful season in program history, the Arkansas Tech Golden Suns softball team was ranked 10th in the final National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II Top-25 Coaches Poll of 2016 on Wednesday.
The Golden Suns finished the season with a 49-11 record and a 34-6 record in Great American Conference play, winning their first GAC Championship and setting the program record in wins (49) as well as winning percentage (.817). On top of winning the regular season title, Tech hosted its first ever NCAA Regional tournament and advanced to host its first NCAA Super Regional in program history.
The 2016 Golden Suns broke multiple program records, including team batting average (.307), runs scored (314), hits (510), runs batted in (274), team ERA (1.52), shutouts (19), and strikeouts (439).
This year’s Arkansas Tech team featured seven all-GAC performers with Jalissa Gum earning GAC Pitcher of the Year and Kristina McSweeney earning GAC Coach of the Year. Gum was a first-team all-GAC pitcher and second-team utility player withSarah Coronado, Destiny Crumpley, Alex Edinger, Kambri Hill and Morgan Vaughn joining Gum on the all-GAC second team. Kelsie Barker was also named to the all-GAC honorable mention team.
Gum was an NFCA All-Central Region First Team selection with Edinger being named to the Second Team.
After finishing the season with the lowest earned run average in all of Division II (0.60), Gum was named to the All-America Second Team by the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) as well as the NFCA All-America Third Team. Gum is just the second Golden Sun to receive All-American honors in the 12-year history of the program and the first since Siarra Gomez was named to the NFCA All-America Team in 2013.