NEW ORLEANS — For the second consecutive season, the Texas State softball program had five representatives on the Sun Belt All-Conference teams, the league announced Monday afternoon.
In addition to a trio of first-team honorees —
Jessica Mullins,
Caitlyn Rogers and
Hannah Earls — and a pair of second-team selections —
Cat Crenek and
Ciara Trahan — the program also picked up the conference's pitcher of the year award (Mullins) and freshman of the year award (Trahan).
Trahan's performance throughout the 2022 regular season allows Texas State (35-17, 19-8) to pick up the Sun Belt's Freshman of the Year award for the second consecutive year after
Sara Vanderford was selected in 2021. Mullins (25-11) is the Bobcats' first Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year since Randi Rupp in 2018. Rupp also won the award in 2017.
"I'm so happy, not only for Trahan and Mullins, but everyone who was recognized by the Sun Belt this afternoon," Texas State softball head coach
Ricci Woodard said. "For Hannah to move from the outfield to shortstop and be selected as an all-conference performer says a lot about the person she is. And for Cat and (Rogers) being able to cap their careers with this honor is fantastic.
"It's no secret we wouldn't be where we are at this point of the season without Mullins and Trahan. Those two have been producing at a high level all season long, so it's fitting those two were honored today."
Mullins leads the Sun Belt with 25 wins, six more than the next closest student-athlete in the conference. Her 1.84 earned run average is the lowest in the league, while her 234 strikeouts are tied for the most in the conference. Mullins' 25 wins so far this season are the fourth most in Division I softball, while her strikeout total rank her inside the top 20 in the nation.
Trahan, who was named the Sun Belt Player of the Week earlier in the day, will enter this week's Sun Belt Conference Championships with 55 hits in her true freshman season, the third most in the league. The 55 hits from the Sante Fe High School product are the most by a Bobcat true freshman since Ariel Ortiz had 57 throughout the 2015 season. In conference-only games, Trahan was one of six student-athletes in the conference to hit .400-or-better (.400).
Crenek's .356 batting average is a team high, while her 13 stolen bases trail on
Hannah Earls' 19. Her 11 multiple hit games this season trail only Trahan, but her 15-game on-base streak throughout the 2022 season was the longest on the team. Her nine-game hitting streak throughout the year was the second longest on the team. In conference games, Crenek's 17 hits were the fifth most on the squad.
Rogers, who was named the conference's player of the week last week, recorded the program's first four-hit contest when the senior catcher accomplished the feat at Coastal Carolina on March 25, 2022. Behind the plate, she's thrown out 10 would-be base stealers, which is tied for the third most in the league. Her .318 batting average in conference-only games trailed only Trahan on the team, while her three home runs were the most on the squad against a Sun Belt foe.
Earls picked up right where she left off following her freshman season in 2021. A season after being credited with 20 stolen bases, Earls added 19 more to her career total throughout 2022. She was one of seven Bobcat student-athletes with an on-base streak of 10-or-more games (12) during the season. In conference-only contests, the sophomore hit .313 and was one of four Texas State softball student-athletes with 30-or-more total bases.
Texas State will look to carry momentum from its regular-season-ending three-game sweep at UTA into the 2022 Sun Belt Conference Championships as the third-seeded Bobcats open up play against sixth-seeded App State on Wednesday, May 11 at 4 p.m. CT.
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