2019 Sun Belt Softball Weekly News and Notes:
Final Release (PDF) | Standings | Composite Schedule | Stats | Championship | Records Book
 
AROUND #SUNBELTSB
• Sun Belt softball had multiple teams in the postseason for the eighth straight year with Louisiana in the NCAA Division I Softball Championship and Appalachian State and UTA in the Postseason National Invitational Softball Championship.
 
• UTA won the 2019 Postseason NISC title in walk-off fashion in a 4-3 win over Iowa State. Junior first base Aileen Garcia laced an RBI single to drive in senior outfielder Krista Rude in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Mavericks the victory. Garcia was named NISC Championship Round Most Valuable Player and senior outfielder Laura Curry, junior second base Melanie Mendoza and sophomore pitcher Randi Phillips were named to the All-Tournament Team.
 
• UTA (36-27, 17-10 Sun Belt) was back in the NISC Championship Round for the second year in a row. This season, the Mavericks won the NISC Nacogdoches Regional with wins over host Stephen F. Austin (once) and McNeese (twice).
 
• UTA's 17 conference wins and No. 3 seed for the Sun Belt Softball Championship were both program records.
 
• Louisiana (52-6, 25-0) closed the season ranked 18th in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 and 17th in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 polls, marking the 12th consecutive season with an appearance in the final rankings. The Ragin' Cajuns have appeared in the final polls 27 times in the last 30 seasons, dating back to 1990.   
 
• Louisiana has made the NCAA Tournament field every year since the Sun Belt started sponsoring softball as a varsity sport beginning with the 2000 season. The Ragin' Cajuns made their 21st consecutive and 29th overall NCAA Tournament appearance this season.
 
• The Sun Belt had one team in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011 and boasted multiple teams in the Postseason NISC for the second time in three seasons. As a conference, the Sun Belt holds a 68-59 (.535) record in 30 NCAA Tournament appearances and a 14-9 (.609) record in five Postseason NISC appearances.
 
• The 2019 Louisiana squad was the first Sun Belt team in conference history to finish league play 25-0 and just the second team in program and Sun Belt history to finish conference play undefeated, joining the 2004 Louisiana squad that went 18-0. The Ragin' Cajuns' 25-0 start in Sun Belt play eclipsed the previous record of 18-0 achieved twice by Louisiana in 2001 and 2004.
 
• The Sun Belt capped the season with three student-athletes earning All-America honors. Louisiana junior pitcher Summer Ellyson received two All-America selections – second team by Softball America and third team by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. Curry and Louisiana junior catcher Julie Rawls were honorable mention All-America picks by Softball America.
 
• Four student-athletes earned recognition on the 2019 Google Cloud Academic All-America® NCAA Division I Softball Teams, as selected by CoSIDA. A pair of outfielders, Coastal Carolina sophomore Courtney Dean and Georgia Southern junior Shelby Wilson, were named to the first team, UTA junior shortstop Whitney Walton was named to the second team and Georgia State redshirt senior third base Kristin Hawkins was named to the third team.
 
• Curry became the first Maverick to lead NCAA Division I in any statistic with 91 hits on the season, edging out Oklahoma's Sydney Romero's 90. Her 91 hits shattered the previous school's single-season record by 15 hits. For the season, she led the Sun Belt and ranked nationally in multiple categories. Her .440 batting average was the best in the conference, 11th best in Division I and was the second-highest, single-season mark in school history. Curry was the toughest strikeout in the Sun Belt and the ninth toughest in the country.
 
• Ellyson closed the season with a Division I-leading 39 wins in the circle. The Sun Belt boasted three of the nation's top pitchers in victories for the majority of the season. Troy freshman Leanna Johnson ranked tied for 17th with 25 wins and Coastal Carolina sophomore Kaitlin Beasley-Polko ranked tied for 27th with 23.
 
• Ellyson also ended her season among the nation's top 10 pitchers in three other categories – third in strikeouts (354), fifth in ERA (1.11) and eighth in hits allowed per seven innings (3.88).
 
• Ellyson’s seven Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week selections equaled the most by a Louisiana pitcher in a single season since Ashley Brignac received seven in 2011. The Ragin' Cajuns' single-season record is eight by Brooke Mitchell in 2004. Louisiana owns 88 Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week awards in program history.

• Louisiana senior catcher Lexie Comeaux has been nominated for the 2019 NCAA Woman of the Year Award, which recognizes graduating female student-athletes who have distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their collegiate careers.
 
• Louisiana senior outfielder Keeli Milligan broke the school and Sun Belt single-season records for stolen bases this season. Milligan set the school record with her 52nd stolen base on April 19 against Georgia State, eclipsing the previous mark of 51 recorded by Dorsey Steamer back in 1992. She swiped her 56th and 57th stolen bases on April 27 against Coastal Carolina, passing the Sun Belt's single-season record of 55 by WKU's Olivia Watkins in 2014. She closed the season with 60 stolen bases, ranked second in the nation behind Southeastern Louisiana's Jaquelyn Ramon's 63. Among active Division I players, the Texas A&M transfer finished second in career stolen bases with 165.
 
• Appalachian State (31-25, 13-13) earned its first postseason bid in program history. The Mountaineers' 31 wins tied the program record for most wins in a single season and marked just the second time all-time to record 30 wins in a season. Appalachian State set the program record for the longest winning streak in a season with eight-straight wins from Feb. 15 to March 1.
 
• Appalachian State, as the No. 5 seed, earned its first Sun Belt Softball Championship appearance after its best season since joining the Sun Belt with the 13 conferences victories.
 
• In the NCAA Division I Softball RPI heading into the postseason, the Sun Belt had five teams in the top 100 – Louisiana (17th), Texas State (62nd), Troy (63rd), UTA (67th) and Coastal Carolina (75th). The Sun Belt ranked eighth as a conference behind the SEC, Pac-12, Big 12, Big Ten, ACC, American and Mountain West.
 
• The Sun Belt had 12 players receive 2019 National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Region honors with Ellyson and Louisiana junior shortstop Alissa Dalton earning first-team recognition.
 
• The 2019 Sun Belt softball postseason honors were highlighted by Louisiana capturing four individual awards – Dalton named Player of the Year, Ellyson named Pitcher of the Year, junior outfielder Sarah Hudek named Newcomer of the Year and head coach Gerry Glasco named Coach of the Year – and Troy freshman pitcher Leanna Johnson earning Freshman of the Year honors.
 
• Ellyson was one of 26 finalists for the 2019 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award. Considered the most prestigious honor in Division I women’s collegiate softball, the award recognizes the outstanding athletic achievement by Division I female players across the country.
 
• Louisiana head coach Gerry Glasco is set to spend his summer serving as a National Pro Fastpitch head coach. Glasco is guiding the USSSA Florida Pride, four-time Cowles Cup and seven-time NPF regular season champions, for the 2019 season. The season runs from June 6 to August 19. The summer-only appointment continues his involvement in the league, which includes winning championships as head coach of USSSA Florida Pride in 2014 and Houston-based Scrap Yard Dawgs in 2017.
 
• In the NPF College Draft in April, the USSSA Florida Pride selected Milligan as the 25th pick overall in the fifth round. The only Sun Belt player drafted this year, Milligan is the 11th player in conference history to be drafted by an NPF team.
 
• The American Softball Association (ASBA) Draft on June 5 saw five former Sun Belt softball standouts selected – South Alabama pitcher Devin Brown (first overall pick, E1 Pro Ballers), South Alabama second base Kaleigh Todd (first pick in the fourth round [13th overall], moh-BEEL! USA), UTA second base Sandra Mendoza (second pick in the fifth round [18th overall], The Field), Appalachian State first base Hailey Stewart (second pick in the eighth round [30th overall], The Performance Lab) and Texas State outfielder Kennedy Cline (first pick in the 12th round [45th overall], moh-BEEL! US). Last season, Todd was taken by moh-BEEL! USA with the first pick in the ninth round (33rd overall). ASBA’s second season runs from June 14 to July 31 with games played at Satsuma High School in Satsuma, Ala.

• During the 2019 season, Sun Belt softball honored the life of Geri Ann Glasco, daughter of Louisiana head coach Gerry Glasco, this season. Geri Ann Glasco passed away on Jan. 24 as a result of a multi-vehicle accident. A standout student-athlete at Oregon, she was set to serve her first season as a volunteer assistant coach for the Ragin' Cajuns. To honor Geri Ann's memory throughout the 2019 season, Sun Belt teams are wearing stickers on their helmets blazoned with her name.

• The National Fastpitch Coaches Association, in partnership with the Natasha Watley Foundation (NWF) and the Glasco Family, has created a Geri Ann Glasco Memorial Scholarship. This scholarship will be awarded to one female assistant coach in the first five years of her career at the collegiate level. Each year this scholarship will cover costs associated with attendance to the NFCA National Convention in December.
 
• WeCOACH, in partnership with NWF and the Glasco Family, also announced the creation of a Geri Ann Glasco Memorial Scholarship. This scholarship will be awarded to a female assistant coach in the first five years of her career at the NCAA level. Each year this scholarship will cover tuition and a travel stipend to attend WeCOACH's NCAA Women Coaches Academy.