TOWSON, Md. – Coryn Schmit (Hawthorn Hills, Ill./Lake Zurich) of the UIC softball team is one of only four infielders from 279 Division I softball programs in the nation to be honored as a Capital One Academic All-American, it was announced by CoSIDA Thursday morning. She was a first team selection this year after winning third team honors a year ago.

 



The Valparaiso softball team earned its first NCAA Tournament victory in program history Saturday afternoon, defeating Central Michigan 7-4 in an elimination game in Ann Arbor, Mich.  By virtue of the win, the Crusaders lived to play another elimination game, but Valpo fell in the final game of the day to #18/22 California 6-0, as Jolene Henderson tossed a no-hitter.



The victory was the first by a Horizon League team in the NCAA Tournament since Wright State went 1-2 in the 2010 tournament.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Three Horizon League softball players earned All-Region accolades from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association on Thursday. Loyola’s Lauren Moore and UIC’s Devin Miller were each voted to the Great Lakes Region Second Team, while Cleveland State’s Dara Toman earned a Midwest Region Second Team nod.

Making its second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, the Valparaiso softball team will head to Michigan for the Ann Arbor Regional of the 2013 NCAA Softball Tournament.  Valpo will open regional play against the host Wolverines, the eighth seed nationally, at 6 p.m. CT on Friday, live on ESPN3.com.

For the second consecutive season, the Valparaiso Crusaders forced a winner-take-all game and picked up a second victory to win the Horizon League Softball Championship out of the winners bracket, beating a surprising Youngstown State team.

No. 6 Youngstown State continued its improbable run through the 2013 Horizon League softball tournament, advancing through the winners bracket to play No. 3 Valparaiso on Championship Saturday.

The upsets continued on a day that saw No. 1 UIC become the first team eliminated from the Horizon League softball tournament before the Cleveland State-Loyola elimination game was postponed in the top of the fifth inning and scheduled to resume on Friday morning at 11 a.m. ET.

Wright State and Youngstown State picked up wins in the first round of the Horizon League softball tournament on Wednesday afternoon at Flames Field on the campus of UIC.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Cleveland State senior first baseman Dara Toman was named the Horizon League Softball Player of the Year, marking the third time in four years a Cleveland State player has collected the award. League co-champion UIC placed five players on the All-League First Team, in voting of the League’s coaches.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Green Bay freshman outfielder Marissa Michalkiewicz (Appleton, Wis./East) has been named Horizon League Softball Player of the Week, while Valparaiso freshman Taylor Weissenhofer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport Township) has earned Horizon League Softball Pitcher of the Week honors, for the week of April 29-May 5.