Auriel Jenkins of Southern Miss, who led her team in earning the regular season crown and a 19-4 league mark, was named Conference USA Most Valuable Player for the 2004 season. Jenkins’ head coach, Gay McNutt, claimed Coach of the Year honors for guiding the Golden Eagles throughout the 2004 season and seeing them to a 32-22 overall record. The Pitcher of the Year award went to Leigh Ann Ellis of USF who has recorded 39 wins and boasts a 0.73 ERA to lead the league. Audrey Rendon of Louisville earned the title Freshman of the Year for a standout rookie season that helped the Cardinals to a program-best 40-15 overall mark. The award winners and all-league teams were chosen by C-USA’s nine head coaches.

Jenkins is the second Golden Eagle to claim MVP honors. Courtney Blades was given the accolade in 2000, the first year that C-USA sponsored softball. Jenkins is currently ranked in the top ten of six of the league’s major hitting categories. The centerfielder leads the USM squad in batting average (.399), slugging percentage (.630) and on-base percentage (.461). Jenkins is also tops on her team in runs scored (39) and home runs (8), and collected 87 total bases on the year. The senior from Pearl, Miss. is ranked nationally for her batting average and earlier in the year received C-USA Hitter of the Week honors on March 29.

After finishing the 2003 season in fifth place, McNutt has brought the Southern Miss squad back into contention with a 19-4 league record. The Golden Eagles (32-22) will try to make a run for the tournament crown that they won under McNutt’s first year at USM in 2001. This past weekend, Southern Miss knocked Louisville out of the top slot in the standings with a three-game sweep over the Cardinals to earn the C-USA regular season title for the second time in program history.

Ellis leads the league with a 39-4 (.907) record that currently ranks second in the nation. Her 0.73 ERA places 11th in the nation while she is tied for 19th with four saves. The senior has struck out 258 batters in 248.2 innings pitched. Ellis has thrown 13 complete-game shutouts this season, including one against then-No. 7 Stanford. She has struck out eight or more batters in 13 games and leads the league with a total of 258 Ks. In 49 appearances, she has allowed just 26 earned runs and has yet to allow a triple or home run during her time in the circle. Ellis has kept her opponents to a .155 batting average this year. She is also a six-time C-USA Pitcher of the Week honoree and was named Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I Player of the Week for the period ending March 7.

In her first season at Louisville, Rendon has been a key member to the U of L starting lineup, claiming the Cardinals’ first-ever Freshman of the Year honor. She led all freshmen and is ranked in the league’s top ten in batting average (.421), on base percentage (.466), triples (6) and stolen bases (17). With her help, Louisville posted its best record in program history with 40 wins and is receiving votes in both national polls. Her batting average leads the U of L squad and is ranked 20th in the nation. She is also ranked 14th nationally for triples per game (0.12). As the Cards’ starting third baseman, Rendon collected 56 hits on the year and successfully stole 17 bases.

The 2004 C-USA Softball Tournament will be held from May 13-15 on the campus of the University of Louisville. Competition will be held at Ulmer Stadium beginning at 11 a.m. (Eastern) this Thursday.

The championship will be a six-team double-elimination tournament (except for the championship game), with the winner receiving the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championship. The championship game on May 15 will be televised by affiliates of the Conference USA Television Network. Don Russell will announce the play-by-play with Cheri Kempf providing the commentary. The game will be telecasted live on the following stations: College Sports Television (Direct TV, Ch. 610), Charter Communications (St. Louis), Comcast Charter Sports Southeast, Cox Sports TV (New Orleans), Fox Sports Net Chicago, UNC Charlotte Cable Television, WDRB-TV Fox 41 (Louisville) and WXIV-TV (Greensboro).

2004 CONFERENCE USA SOFTBALL AWARDS

First-Team All-Conference USA
C: Lacy Wood, Louisville
IF: Kristen Glowacz, Houston
IF: Carmela Liwag, USF
IF: Audrey Rendon, Louisville
IF: Saskia Roberson, DePaul
OF: Holly Groves, USF
OF: Auriel Jenkins, Southern Miss
OF: Shannon Nord, Louisville
P: Leigh Ann Ellis, USF
P: Aja Sherman, Louisville
UT: Sarah Martz, DePaul


Second-Team All-Conference USA
C: Krista Jessup, East Carolina
IF: Ashley Davis, Southern Miss
IF: Christina Douglas, DePaul
IF: Jessica Huerta, Southern Miss
IF: Kate Manuse, East Carolina
IF: Beth Mullins, UAB
IF: Christine Sheridan, East Carolina
OF: Sara Bausher, Louisville
OF: Shelly Riker, USF
OF: Linda Secka, DePaul
P: Jessica Holaway, Southern Miss
P: Jenny Johnson, Houston
UT: Jenilee Skender, Houston

Conference USA All-Freshmen Team
Jamie Adams, Houston
Catherine Bishop, Louisville
Jessica Evans, DePaul
Kady Garrick, Louisville
Holly Krzan, UAB
Sue Logan, Southern Miss
Courtney Moore, Louisville
Jessica Moore, Charlotte
Audrey Rendon, Louisville
Linda Secka, DePaul
Danielle Urbanik, USF


Most Valuable Player: Auriel Jenkins, Southern Miss
Pitcher of the Year: Leigh Ann Ellis, USF
Freshman of the Year: Audrey Rendon, Louisville
Coach of the Year: Gay McNutt, Southern Miss