May 15, 2008

IRVING, Texas - Nine Conference USA Softball players were named to Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I All-Region teams, the association announced. A total of 232 players from 107 different teams comprise the first and second regional teams.

Houston placed a league-high four players on the All-South Region team. Senior Angel Shamblin and junior Laurie Wagner earned All-South Region First Team honors, while junior Jessica Valis and freshman Jennifer Klinkert were named to the Second Team.

Shamblin earned her second mention on the All-Region team. Last season, she was named to the South All-Region Second Team. She holds a 32-3 record with a 0.68 ERA. Her ERA ranks fourth in the nation. Shamblin has struck out 267 batters in 236.2 innings of work. She was named the Conference USA Pitcher of the Year for the third consecutive season and won C-USA Player of the Week a record tying 16 times in her career.

Wagner, who ranks eighth in the nation in home runs per game, was named to the All-Region team for the first time in her career. She set a school record for single-season home runs with 19, which is also a C-USA single season record. Wagner is second on the team in batting average with a .424 and has a team-high 55 RBI. The RBI total is a single-season record.

Valis earned her second consecutive All-South Region selection. She leads the team with a .446 batting average and set the school record for career triples this year with 12, including the five she has hit this season. She was named to the All-Conference USA First Team for the third consecutive season.

Klinkert, the Conference USA Freshman of the Year, was named to the All-Region Second Team after hitting 14 home runs this season with 49 RBI. She was named a C-USA Hitter of the Week twice this season and has hit two grand slams, including one against Memphis in the C-USA Championship.

Marshall had three players recognized on the Midwest Region team. Senior catcher Rachel Folden was selected to the First Team, while junior outfielder Rachael Sofie and sophomore pitcher Caitlyn Jackson joined Folden on the all-region team with second team selections.

Folden, the 2008 Conference USA Player of the Year, was named to the first team for a fourth-straight year after ending the season with a .425 batting average with a NCAA Top 5 slugging percentage of .902. She capped off her final year at Marshall claiming the all-time honors in home runs, RBIs and career batting average.

Sofie, a native of Everett, Wash., earned her first all-region honor after setting career-highs in almost every offensive statistical category. She nearly doubled her RBI total to 25 and tripled her previous doubles performance to nine.

Jackson garnered her first all-region selection after splitting time in the pitching circle and the outfield for the Herd. She finished the season with a team-high 13 wins and hurled a career-high 83 strikeouts. At the plate, Jackson hit .337 with 30 RBIs and two home runs.

After leading the UCF softball team to the Conference USA Championship title and an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament last weekend, senior pitcher Allison Kime was named to the Southeast Region First Team.

Kime, a 2007 All-Southeast Region First Team selection, holds a 31-10 record in 2008 and ranks ninth in the NCAA in victories (31), 19th in ERA (1.04) and 31st in strikeouts per seven innings (8.7). The senior also ranks fourth all-time in C-USA with 831 strikeouts.

The final C-USA selection was Lauren Lindsay of Tulsa. Lindsay was honored as an All-Midwest Region second team member. The sophomore outfielder currently leads Conference USA with 22 doubles. Not only is that mark the most in C-USA, it also tops the nation. Heading into this weekend's action, only seven players nationally have posted over 20 doubles on the season.

Chosen by NFCA member coaches from each region, the honorees will now be eligible for selection to the Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-America first, second or third teams.

The 2008 NFCA Division I All-American teams will be announced on Wednesday, May 28 at 4 p.m. CT on the NFCA web site, www.nfca.org.