Two players from East Texas Baptist University were named to the NFCA (National Fastpitch Coaches Association) All-American team for their great play in Lacey Lindsey and Jayme Perez.  Lindsey and Perez were voted to the third team as freshman and the first ETBU freshmen to be named all-American since Christy Shipley. 

Lindsey has earned several accolades in her first year at ETBU including ASC Freshman of the Year, All-ASC first-team, NFCA All-West Region first-team, Marshall Super Regional Most Outstanding Player, Tyler Regional All-Tournament Team, and two-time ASC Hitter of the Week.  She broke the ETBU single season record for RBI (59) and tied the home run record (15).  She hit the walk-off home run for ETBU as they captured the Marshall Super Regional championship. 

Perez earns her first all-American award in her first season at ETBU.  She was a NFCA All-West Region first, All-ASC tournament team, All-ASC first-team, and the NFCA National Hitter of the Week.  Perez hit five home runs in six ASC Tournament games, had a walk-off home run for the win over Claremont Mudd Scripps in the Marshall Super Regional first-game, and had a lead-off home run vs. Trine in the NCAA Championship Tournament.  She finished with 12 home runs, 48 RBI, and 13 doubles.

ETBU now has 10 all-Americans in their program and it is the second year in a row for ETBU to produce an all-American.  Lacy Liles was a second-team all-American in 2013.

For the fourth year in a row an East Texas Baptist University softball player has been named to the CoSIDA Academic All-American team as Lacy Liles earned the award this year.  Liles is just one of 33 softball players out of all NCAA Division III softball players to be named a Capital One Academic  All-American as a second team member.  Ashton Brey (2011, 2012) and Lya Swaner (2013) were both academic All-Americans the past three years for ETBU.

“This is a tremendous honor for Lacy to earn this award as the academic All-American awards are so hard to receive due to the amount of athletes nominated for the award,” says ETBU director of sports information Adam P. Ledyard.  “She is in elite status in NCAA Division III for academics receiving this award from the sports information directors.  This is an award she can share with her family and friends the rest of her life.”

Liles is just one of two Texas players voted onto the academic All-American team as Ashley Jacobsen (Texas Lutheran) made the third-team.  Liles is a senior majoring in business with a 3.8 grade point average and is a NFCA All-American.  Her academic accolades, team awards, and individual awards helped put her at the top of the list.  She is a NFCA All-American and a two-time All-ASC first-team selection along with being named twice to a NFCA West All-Region team.  She has helped ETBU to two NCAA Tournament appearances, a regional tournament title, a super regional title, and an ASC Tournament Championship.  She will also finish in the top 10 in several ETBU program categories.

ETBU is currently 44-8 and will be playing in the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament this week in Tyler, Texas.

The Lady Tigers celebrate after winning the NCAA Division III Tyler Regional with 5-1 win over Texas Lutheran University. Photo by Ryan C. Perry.

The National Fastpitch Coaches Association announced their 2014 all-region teams and the names of six East Texas Baptist University players were among those recognized.  Lacey Lindsey, Jayme Perez and Kelly Jo McLendon were all named to the West Region’s first team while Lacy Liles and Shelby Parker received second team honors and Kaitlyn Hollingshead was named to the third team.

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Leading the American Southwest Conference in the most first-team selections, East Texas Baptist University garnered nine players receiving All-ASC awards.  Seven players were named to the first team to lead the ASC while Lacey Lindsey was named the freshman of the year.

Lacy Liles, Alyssa Romero, Shelby Parker, Kayla Garcia, Kelly Jo McLendon, Lacey Lindsey, and Jayme Perez were all named to the first-team.  It is the second year in a row for Liles, Parker, and Romero to be named to the first-team.

Lindsey earned one of the biggest awards of the year as she was named the freshman of the year and to the first-team as a first baseman.  In the ASC, she is first in RBI (50), total bases (105), and home runs (14), fourth in slugging percentage (.808), fifth in hits (53), and seventh in batting average (.408) and runs scored (36).  She has been named the ASC Hitter of the Week twice.

Kaitlyn Hollingshead and Mallory Westbrook were voted to the third-team.

The Lady Tigers won the NCAA Tyler West Regional over the weekend and host the Super Regional this Friday and Saturday at Taylor Field. ETBU will play Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in a best two out of three series with the winner advancing to the NCAA Division III Softball Championship Tournament.

ETBU Lady Tiger Jayme Perez has been named the Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division III National Player of the Week. Photo by Ryan C. Perry

Jayme Perez of East Texas Baptist University has been selected as the Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division III National Player of the Week.

Perez, a freshman designated player and leadoff hitter for the number 6^th ranked Tigers (39-7), was a powerful contributor to her team’s run to the American Southwest Conference (ASC) title game over the weekend.

The Austin, Texas, native hit five home runs in six ASC Tournament games, including four straight contests. Five of her seven hits on the week were homers and two of the homers went off the scoreboard in left field at Texas-Tyler’s Suddenlink Field. Perez added a .280 average, five runs scored and seven runs batted in to her ledger to earn ASC All-Tournament team recognition.

The Tigers will be playing in the NCAA West Tyler Regional this weekend along with UT-Tyler and Texas Lutheran in a three-team round robin double elimination tournament. The winner advances to the Super Regional.  

Click here to watch video highlights of Tiger win over Concordia Texas in the first game of the ASC Tournament. The first clip is Perez’s first homerun hit in the tournament which hit about three feet below the top of the left field scoreboard.