Ferguson, Lenzora and Uchida Earn Second-Team All-WAC Softball Honors

FRESNO, Calif. – Utah State softball’s Tina Ferguson, Kassy Uchida and Allison Lenzora were all named to the all-Western Athletic Conference second team; it was announced by the league office Wednesday prior to the start of the WAC Tournament. The three honorees is the most since Utah State joined the WAC for the 2006 season. The last time that Utah State had three players earn postseason honors was in 2005 when Quela Leonhardt, Sara Fleming and Leslie Higley earned all-Big West honors. Utah State has now earned nine all-WAC honors. Last season, outfielder Nicole Tindall earned first team honors. Tindall was the first Aggie to earn first-team all-WAC honors since Amy Schaible and Kayla Dunn in 2008. Overall, Utah State has now had 68 all-conference honorees all-time. Uchida and Lenzora are the first Aggies to earn all-WAC honors as freshmen. Ferguson, a sophomore catcher from Payson, Utah (Spanish Fork HS), led the team in hitting in WAC games with a stellar .407 batting average. She played in all 18 WAC games and was tied for first on the team with five doubles. Ferguson ended WAC play 10th in the conference in both slugging percentage (.593) and on base percentage (.448). Uchida, a freshman utility player from Burbank, Calif. (Burbank HS) has been solid for the Aggies all season, hitting over .300 for the bulk of the season. In WAC only games, Uchida was third on the team with a .383 batting average. Playing both second base and in the outfield, the freshman ended conference play tied for first on the team in hits with 23. Lenzora, a freshman shortstop from Manteca, Calif. (Central Catholic HS) came on strong during WAC play, hitting .400 behind Ferguson. The .400 average was the seventh best in the league in conference games. She had 20 hits in WAC games, including two doubles. For the second-straight season, Hawai`i’s Jessica Iwata was named the WAC Player of the Year, while her teammate Stephanie Ricketts earned WAC Pitcher of the Year honors. New Mexico State’s Stephanie Swedberg was named the WAC Freshman of the Year, and New Mexico State head coach Kathy Rodolph earned WAC Coach of the Year honors. Fifth-seeded Utah State will now open the WAC Tournament against fourth-seeded Hawai‘i on Wednesday, May 11 at 5:30 p.m. MT. Streaming is available for the WAC Tournament at www.WAC.tv, while live stats for Utah State games can be found at www.utahstateaggies.com. This is the first trip to the tournament for head coach Carissa Millsap-Kalaba. The second-year head coach led the Aggies to an 15-40 overall record and a 8-13 WAC record this season. It is the most wins in conference action since USU went 8-16 in the Big West in 2002. Fans can follow USU softball on Twitter and Utah State Athletics at http://twitter.com/USUAthletics.   2011 ALL-WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE SOFTBALL TEAMS First Team Team Ht. Yr. Pos. Hometown Devon Bridges Boise State 5-9 Fr. OF Danville, Calif. Teresa Conrad New Mexico State 5-8 So. SS/1B Los Angeles, Calif. Allie Crump% Boise State 5-11 Jr. P/1B/DP Elk Grove, Calif. Jessica Iwata$ Hawai`i 5-4 So. SS Lihu’e, Kaua`i Tiare Jennings$# New Mexico State 5-8 Jr. OF Turlock, Calif. Kandis Jones% New Mexico State 5-6 Sr. OF La Mirada, Calif. Michelle Moses$ Fresno State 5-9 Jr. P/1B Paso Robles, Calif. Hoku Nohara!% New Mexico State 5-7 Sr. DP/1B Waimanalo, Hawai`i Andrea Ortega% Fresno State 5-4 Jr. OF Scottsdale, Ariz. Kylie Randall% New Mexico State 5-5 Sr. SS/OF Chula Vista, Calif. Stephanie Ricketts$# Hawai`i 6-0 Jr. P San Jose, Calif. Valerie Swedberg New Mexico State 5-8 Fr. OF Albuquerque, N.M. Aubray Zell Boise State 5-10 Jr. P Lakewood, Calif. Second Team Team Ht. Yr. Pos. Hometown Alex Aguirre Hawai`i 5-5 Jr. OF Temple City, Calif. Nicole Angene Fresno State 5-10 Sr. 1B/3B Norco, Calif. Christina Capobianco Boise State 5-7 Jr. 1B/DP Laguna Niguel, Calif. Tina Ferguson Utah State 5-2 So. C Payson, Utah Janna Frandrup Louisiana Tech 5-6 So. P/2B Phoenix, Ariz. Erin Jones Nevada 5-5 So. 3B Antioch, Calif. Meghan Krieg$# Louisiana Tech 5-9 Sr. P Sonora, Texas Allison Lenzora Utah State 5-4 Fr. IF Manteca, Calif. Kelly Majam$ Hawai`i 5-3 So. OF Pine Valley, Calif. Ashley Maroda New Mexico State 5-10 Sr. 3B San Bernardino, Calif. Brooke Ortiz Fresno State 5-7 Fr. 2B/3B Lodi, Calif. Kassy Uchida Utah State 5-0 Fr. UT Burbank, Calif. Tazz Weatherly Boise State 5-4 Jr. OF Stockton, Calif. $2010 first team All-WAC %2010 second team All-WAC !2009 first team All-WAC #2009 second team All-WAC @2008 first team All-WAC &2008 second team All-WAC 2011 WAC Player of the Year: Jessica Iwata, Hawai`i 2011 WAC Pitcher of the Year: Stephanie Ricketts, Hawai`i 2011 WAC Freshman of the Year: Valerie Swedberg, New Mexico State 2011 WAC Coach of the Year: Kathy Rodolph, New Mexico State -USU-

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!