LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – In exclusive all‐conference voting by the head coaches of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), Texas Lutheran University’s Ashlyn Strother was selected SCAC Pitcher-of-the-Year for the second consecutive season, while her teammate Casey Martin was named SCAC Player-of-the-Year. Angela Froboese of St. Thomas and Wade Wilson of Texas Lutheran were selected as SCAC Co-Coaches-of-the-Year. Complete Release

In that same balloting, Taylor McKenzie of Southwestern and Jaelyn Simmons of St. Thomas shared SCAC Newcomer-of-the-Year honors. It marked the first time in SCAC softball history that the coaches voted Co-Newcomers-of-the-Year.

Strother, simply put, dazzled in the circle this year for the Bulldogs. The sophomore right-hander from Seabrook, Texas is currently a perfect 18-0, the league’s high-mark for wins, with a league-best 0.70 ERA and 156 strikeouts in 190.2 innings of work. Her 9.96 strikeouts per seven innings ratio also leads the league and would be the fifth best single-season total in SCAC history. Currently the league’s best in wins, strikeouts, and ERA, Strother, if she hangs on to those rankings, would be the first pitcher since TLU’s Maitlin Raycroft in 2017 and just the fourth in SCAC history to achieve the single season pitching triple crown. She had seven shutouts this season (first in the SCAC) and her .144 batting average against also leads the league and would be the second-best mark in SCAC history. In league play, Strother is limiting opponents to just a .094 batting average. Strother, who is on pace to become just the sixth pitcher in SCAC history to lead the league in ERA in back-to-back seasons, was a five-time SCAC Pitcher-of-the-Week during the regular season. It marked the most selections in a single season since Raycroft garnered eight selections in 2017.

Strother is the seventh pitcher in SCAC history to earn back-to-back Pitcher-of-the-Year honors and the first since Texas Lutheran’s Maitlin Raycroft was honored in 2017 and 2018. She picked up four first-place votes in the balloting with St. Thomas’ Lindsey Longuet and Trinity’s Cat Patterson receiving two first-place votes each.

Martin, a senior second baseman from Pearland, Texas returned to the top team and is making her third-straight all-conference appearance after earning first team accolades as a freshman (2019) and second team recognition as junior (2021). She is currently first in the SCAC in runs scored (40), hits (52), batting average (.448) and on-base percentage (.521) heading into this weekend’s tournament. She is third in stolen bases (28), fourth in RBI (26) and seventh in slugging percentage (.534). Martin opened the season with a 13-game hitting streak and produced 17 multi-hit games, including five three-hit performances. She is on-pace to become just the fifth hitter in SCAC softball history to lead the league in batting average, hits and runs scored in a single season. Her teammate, Kelly Jurden, was the most recent to achieve that feat back in 2019. This season marked the second time in her career she has achieved 25-plus stolen bases and RBI, joining TLU’s Kaymee Gooden as the only two athletes in league history to produce such a performance in two separate years. A two-time SCAC Offensive-Player-of-the-Week honoree during the regular season, Martin combined to hit .600 going 15-for-25 at the plate with nine RBI, nine runs scored and eight stolen bases in the weeks she was honored.

Martin is the seventh different Texas Lutheran student athlete in the last eight years to earn SCAC Player-of-the-Year honors. Her selection marks the eight consecutive year a TLU player has won or shared the award. Martin received five first-place votes in the SCAC Player-of-the-Year balloting, while first-year third baseman Jaelyn Simmons of the University of St. Thomas received the remaining three first-place votes.

In her first year in the circle, Southwestern’s Taylor McKenzie made an immediate impact for the Pirates. The first-year hurler from Glen Rose, Texas is currently among the league’s elite, ranked in the top five in several statistical categories entering the SCAC Tournament, including second in appearances (24), strikeouts (114) and strikeouts per seven innings (6.78). McKenzie is currently third with 117.2 innings pitched with a fifth-best ERA of 2.91. Each of those marks are the best among first-year pitchers. Her 17 starts and 10 complete games are currently sixth best in the conference and her seven wins on the season is tied for seventh most. McKenzie’s Newcomer-of-the-Year honor is the fourth in Southwestern program history, joining Lauren Zearfoss (2011), Kelsey Kingston (2013) and Grace Phelps (2018).

St. Thomas’ Jaelyn Simmons, a first-year third baseman from Cypress, Texas, arrives this weekend at the SCAC Tournament ranked in the top three in nearly every offensive category. She is currently first in the SCAC with a .775 slugging percentage and shares the league lead in home runs (6) and triples (4). Her 44 hits are tied for second-best in the conference and her 36 runs scored and .496 on-base percentage are good enough for third. Simmons has produced the sixth most RBI this year with 25 and eighth most doubles with nine. Simmons’ honor marks the second-straight selection a St. Thomas player has earned Newcomer-of-the-Year honors.

In the balloting for SCAC Newcomer-of-the-Year, McKenzie and Simmons each received three first-place votes to share the honor, edging out Texas Lutheran first-year shortstop Faith Hernandez and Trinity first-year utility Jessica Lloyd who split the final two first-place votes.

Under the guidance of the Angela Froboese, the program’s first-ever head coach, St. Thomas has produced back-to-back 20-win seasons, including a program high 22 wins this year. The Celts, who are eligible for the SCAC Tournament this year for the first time in program history, enter this weekend’s event as the No. 2 seed following a 14-7 mark against league foes in the regular season. Froboese has led St. Thomas to 44 wins overall and 29 wins in SCAC play in the program’s opening two years of competition. This season, Froboese became the first coach in SCAC history to reach the 400-win plateau following the Celts 7-3 win over Austin College on March 27th and currently has a league best 407 wins all-time in 17 combined seasons with Southwestern (15) and St. Thomas (2). Her 165 career SCAC wins is good enough for second best in league history. This marks the sixth time Froboese has been honored by her peers as SCAC Coach-of-the-Year and first time at St. Thomas. Froboese is now just the second coach in league history to earn Coach-of-the-Year accolades at two different SCAC school’s joining Roland Rodriguez who accomplished the feat with both Trinity University and Millsaps College. Froboese previously won the award at Southwestern in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2019.

Texas Lutheran head coach Wade Wilson, who is in his 11th season, guided the program to another SCAC regular season crown this season after successfully leading the Bulldogs to SCAC regular season and tournament championships in each of the team’s pervious seven years in the conference. This year’s squad earned its eight regular season title with a perfect 21-0 conference mark and is currently ranked third in the nation with a 35-4 overall record heading into this weekend’s tournament. This year marks the sixth time TLU has gone undefeated during regular season conference play. Over the last 10 years, few head coaches have been as successful as Wilson. Since joining the SCAC prior to the 2014 season, he has led the Bulldogs to an overall record of 312-46 and an incredible 173-3 conference mark, winning SCAC games at a .983 clip. The 173 SCAC victories is the most by any coach in SCAC history and the program is currently riding a 62-game conference regular season winning streak. TLU has not lost in SCAC play since March 2, 2019, at Southwestern. Texas Lutheran has been to back-to-back NCAA Division III National Championships, winning the title in 2019 and finishing runner-up in 2021. This is the seventh SCAC Coach-of-the-Year honor for Wilson and eight overall as he was honored as ASC Coach-of-the-Year in 2013 before earning the award seven of the last eight seasons in the SCAC.

Froboese and Wilson are the first coaching duo to share SCAC Coach-of-the-Year honors since Birmingham-Southern’s Kimball Cassady and Trinity’s Selena Collins were both honored in 2012. Froboese and Wilson have now combined to win nine-straight SCAC Coach-of-the-Year accolades going back to the 2013 season

To view the entire 2022 All-SCAC Softball Team, click here.