May 17, 2012
UCF Athletics Social Media Directory
By Andrew Jennette
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - The awards keep coming for senior shortstop Natalie Land and freshman starting pitcher Mackenzie Audas.
Land earned a spot on the Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Mideast Region first team, and Audas was named to the second team. They are the eighth and ninth players in program history to be named to an all-region squad.
"Natalie really took being a leader of this team to heart this year," head coach Renee Luers-Gillispie said. "She stepped up and had the best season of her career in her final season, breaking so many school records along the way. And Mac really carried us all year with her ability to go deep into games and give us a chance to beat everyone we played. The fact that these two players on the opposite ends of the spectrum for their careers led us back to the NCAA Tournament this weekend makes me extremely proud."
Just last week, Land and Audas were named to the All-Conference USA First Team. Land earned her spot after leading the Knights in batting average (.341), slugging (.560), on-base (.413), runs (51), hits (63), triples (5), home runs (8) and stolen bases (41).
Land also earned C-USA All-Academic Team recognition for the third consecutive year. She is one of only three softball student-athletes in C-USA who earned all-academic honors for three seasons. An athletic training major, she has posted a 3.7 cumulative GPA.
Audas earned C-USA Co-Pitcher of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors after posting a 21-10 record this season. The hurler boasts a 1.21 ERA and has 10 shutouts and 261 strikeouts in 219 1/3 innings pitched.
She currently ranks eighth nationally in ERA, 16th in shutouts and 20th in strikeouts. She also already ranks in UCF's top five in 14 career pitching categories.
The UCF softball team is set to take on USF Friday at 3:30 p.m., in the opening round of the NCAA Gainesville Regional, hosted by No. 4 overall seed Florida.