July 7, 2008

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjack softball team is coming off its best season in nearly two decades, but at least one outside source is predicting that success to not only continue, but flourish, in 2009. ESPN.com columnist Graham Hays listed the Ladyjacks last week as one of his eight "Teams on the rise for '09."

In the segment regarding SFA, Hays touts a pair of close defeats against Auburn and eventual national championship finalist Texas A&M in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. He also lauds ace Monika Covington, who was named the Southland Conference Freshman of the Year in 2008 and earned SLC Tournament MVP honors.

The except, in its entirety, has been reprinted below:

"Stephen F. Austin One of the closest games Texas A&M played during its postseason run to the final series of the Women's College World Series came in its very first outing. Playing on the Aggies' home turf in College Station during regionals, Stephen F. Austin dropped a 2-0 decision against the top seed. Ladyjacks freshman ace Monika Covington allowed just five hits in six innings, didn't allow a walk and struck out seven. The team's season ended when Covington took another hard-luck loss in a 2-0 loss against Auburn, but it was as impressive a performance as a team could make without scoring a run.

A lefty who was both a first-team all-Southland selection and the league's top freshman, Covington will return for her sophomore season. So will a number of key bats from an offense that looked better during the regular season than it did during regionals (although leading hitter Jessica Tullos was among graduation losses). Even after losing key seniors, Texas A&M and Houston appear to still be the class of the state. But sometime Big 12 heavyweights Texas and Baylor may once again be pushed by a team from the Southland in 2009, just as both were in dropping decisions to Texas State in 2008."

The Ladyjacks went 36-25 overall and reached the Southland Conference Tournament for the first time since 1990. Once there, No. 4 seed SFA went on a three-game tear, knocking off top seed Texas State in the semifinals, then defeating Nicholls State in the championship game on a walk-off home run by freshman Ashley Struchtemeyer in the bottom of the seventh inning.

That win put the Ladyjacks in the NCAA Division I Championships for the first time in program history. SFA's 36 victories in 2008 are the third-most recorded by a Ladyjack team since the program joined the NCAA Division I ranks for the 1988 season.

Including Covington, SFA stands to return as many as 16 letterwinners from the 2008 squad, the only graduation loss being slugging first baseman Jessica Tullos.

Read Hays' full article by clicking here.

-- SFA --