May 18, 2006
DAVIS, Calif. - A total of six UC Davis softball players have received Division I Independent post-season honors. Named to the First Team were Ashley Johnson and Lindsay Tognetti. In addition, Roxanne Hannan, Belinda Paine and Nikki Sheldon were named to the Second Team. Hannan and Paine, along with Julie Stauder, received All-Newcomer honors. The UC Davis contingent was the highest number for any qualifying school.
Johnson, a sophomore cather, finished the year with a .283 batting average and tied for team highs in homers (5) and RBIs (26). She led UC Davis with a .434 slugging percentage and was second with a .345 on base percentage. She was one of three Aggies who started all 54 games. Johnson was twice named Division I Independent Player of the Week.
Tognetti led the Aggies in virtually every pitching category. She finished her junior campaign with a 2.40 ERA along with a team-high eight wins. She struck out 164 batters in 160 and two-thirds innings to go along with two shutouts and 11 complete games. Her last three victories of the year came against NCAA Tournament participants UC Santa Barbara, Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State. She was twice named Division I Independent Pitcher of the Week.
Hannan, a freshman outfielder, received both Second-Team and All-Newcomer honors. She finished tied for first on the team with five home runs, second in slugging (.407), third in RBIs (22) and fourth in batting average (.269). She was named Newcomer of the Week in mid-March.
Paine, a freshman outfielder, was also named to both the Second Team and All-Newcomer Team. She led the Aggies with a .328 batting average and was tied for first with 12 stolen bases in 15 attempts. Paine was twice named Newcomer of the Week.
Sheldon, a junior infielder, was third on the team in homers and tied for first with 26 RBIs. She collected seven doubles and had seven games with at least two RBIs. She was one of three Aggies to start every game.
Stauder joined Hannan and Paine on the All-Newcomer Team. The freshman, who started 41 times at shortstop, batted .227 on the year and started all 47 games she played in. She drove in nine runs and scored 19 times.
UC Davis was the only school with as many as six players honored. UCD led all schools with the most players on the All-Newcomer Team and tied for the most on the Second Team.
There are a total of nine schools among softball independents in Division I. UC Davis is joined by Georgetown, IPFW, Longwood, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, Savannah State, South Dakota State and Utah Valley State
UC Davis just completed the third year of a four-year transition from Division II to Division I. The Aggies will be official members of the Big West Conference beginning with the 2008 season.
