DePaul’s junior pitcher Lindsay Chouinard, who led the No. 16 Blue Demons to their second consecutive regular season title this season, is the league’s Pitcher of the Year, while teammate Liz Bouck was named Most Valuable Player. UAB’s Marla Townsend was named C-USA Coach of the Year after guiding her program to a school-record 36 wins and third place regular season finish. Houston’s Kristen Glowacz earned Freshman of the Year honors.

Conference USA announced its major award winners and all-league teams, chosen by C-USA's nine head coaches, at its pre-tournament banquet Wednesday at the Holiday Inn in Tampa, Fla. The 2002 Conference USA Tournament, hosted by South Florida, will take place May 9-11 at the USF Softball Complex. The championship game on May 11 will be televised by affiliates of the Conference USA Television Network. Don Russell will announce the play-by-play with Kaci Clark, a former WPSL MVP and All-State performer, providing the commentary. The game will be telecasted live on the following stations: Charter Communications (St. Louis), WFTE (Louisville), NESN and Comcast Charter Southeast. Fox Sports Net Chicago (May 12 at 5 p.m. (CST)) and Fox Sports Net South (May 13 at 11 a.m. (CST)) will broadcast the championship game as a tape delay.

Chouinard, who has tossed three no-hitters this spring, claims her first C-USA Pitcher of the Year accolade. She is currently first in the league in four categories - earned run average (0.45), opposing batting average (.141), saves (5) and wins (25). The junior has thrown six career no-hitters, tying the C-USA record held by Southern Miss' Courtney Blades, the 2000 Honda Award winner. Chouinard also has not allowed an earned run in her last 74 1/3 innings pitched, 2/3 innings short of the conference record set by Blades in 2000. On the season, she is 25-4 with a 0.45 ERA, ranking third in the nation. She led the conference with five C-USA Pitcher of the Year honors this season, totaling 9 in her career.

Picked to finish seventh in the Conference USA preseason poll, UAB posted a 36-17 overall record and 14-10 conference mark to finish third. Townsend directed UAB to its best season to date in 2002, posting five different winning streaks during the year, with the best being a 10-game stretch from March 8 - March 26 that ranked seventh-best in conference history. Townsend earns her first Coach of the Year honor after leading the Blazers to a school record 36 wins.

This season, Bouck has been a key member in the Blue Demon's starting lineup. She currently leads the conference in runs scored (41) and ranks second in batting average (.411) and hits (69). She notched 22 multi-hit games including six three-hit games and produced a team-best nine-game hitting streak. She also tied the Conference USA single-season record for runs with 20 and hits with 29 in league games.

Glowacz claimed Houston's first Freshman of the Year honor, after making an immediate impact in nearly every batting category this season. She led all freshmen in batting average (.342), slugging percentage (.559), hits (55), runs batted in (35), doubles (13) and home runs (7). She earned C-USA Hitter of the Week honors on Feb. 11, after helping the Cougars to an 8-0 start.

No. 18 DePaul led the way with five first team all-conference selections. This tied the Blue Demon's own league record set last year. East Carolina and Louisville followed with three, UAB had two and Charlotte and Saint Louis each placed one player on the first team.

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2002 CONFERENCE USA SOFTBALL AWARDS

First-Team All-Conference USA
C: Gina Ramacci, DePaul
IF: Leah Heston, Charlotte
IF: Liz Bouck, DePaul
IF: April Valdez, DePaul
IF: Angela Manzo, East Carolina
IF: Kenzie Meisenburg, Louisville
IF: Candice Hithe, UAB
OF: Beth Bridger, East Carolina
OF: Sara Bausher, Louisville
OF: Keola Calderon, Louisville
OF: Cliffanie Engram, UAB
P: Lindsay Chouinard, DePaul
P: Nicole Bacon, East Carolina
UT: Sarah Martz, DePaul
DP: Nicole Bohnenstiehl, Saint Louis

Second-Team All-Conference USA
C: Ray Ferreris, Houston
IF: Stephanie Dunlap, Charlotte
IF: Ali McDougall, Houston
IF: Leslie Seay, Houston
IF: Channika Gant, Southern Miss
IF: Kai Paul, UAB
OF: Kristy Constantino, Charlotte
OF: Riane Netardus, Houston
OF: Renee Oursler, South Florida
OF: Sara Boyd, Southern Miss
P: Jessica Rak, Louisville
P: Megan Stephenson, UAB
DP: Kelli Thompson, UAB

Conference USA All-Freshmen Team
C: Lisa Estes, Louisville
IF: Kristen Glowacz, Houston
IF: Kate Manuse, East Carolina
IF: Carmela Liwag, South Florida
OF: Dana Kenney, DePaul
OF: Kim Nesloney, Houston
OF: Sara Bausher, Louisville
OF: Kristin Stanfill, UAB
P: Krystle Herold, Louisville
P: Niki Trowell, South Florida
UT: Saskia Roberson, DePaul
DP: Jenilee Skender, Houston

Freshman of the Year: Kristen Glowacz, Houston

Pitcher of the Year: Lindsay Chouinard, DePaul

Most Valuable Player: Liz Bouck, DePaul

Coach of the Year: Marla Townsend, UAB

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