Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Freel Named A-Sun Pitcher-of-the-Year
5/11/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 11, 2004
BOCA RATON, FL - Florida Atlantic University's Candice Freel has been named Atlantic Sun Conference Pitcher-of-the-Year, announced the conference office Tuesday morning. Freel highlights a list of six Owls who received post-season honors. Pam Mazzarella and Jessica Sachs were also First-Team All-Conference selections with Freel. Jenn Piazza and Jessica Braggins were named to the Second-Team while Ashley Greene received All-Freshmen honors.
Freel leads the A-Sun in virtually every pitching category. She has tallied 24 wins, 13 shutouts, 225 strikeouts, while opponents are batting a conference-low .161 against her. Freel is fifth in the nation with a 0.64 ERA which is the second lowest season ERA in FAU history. Against A-Sun opponents, her numbers were even more staggering with a 9-1 record and a 0.28 ERA. Freel has thrown 29 consecutive scoreless innings which includes a 20-strikeout, no-hit performance last Wednesday against UCF. In her 74 innings against A-Sun foes, she has allowed three earned runs and struck out 81.
Mazzarella, a junior first-baseman, received First-Team honors for the third consecutive season. Her .384 batting average leads the team and is fourth overall in the A-Sun. She enters this week's A-Sun Championship with an eight-game hitting streak and 14 hits in her last 19 at-bats. Since April 4, Mazzarella is batting .568.
Sachs was named First-Team All-Conference for the first time. The sophomore third-baseman is second on the team with a .327 average. She leads the team with 70 hits and has a .374 on-base percentage.
Piazza, who was last year's A-Sun Championship MVP, was named Second-Team All-Conference. The junior played most of the season in left field and batted .308 in A-Sun games. Braggins was a Second-Team selection at the designated player spot. The junior has a .286 average overall with a team-high eight home runs. Against A-Sun teams, Braggins batted .333 with three homers and 11 RBIs.
In addition to FAU's First and Second-Team selections, Ashley Greene received All-Freshmen honors. Overall, she is 8-1 with a 1.11 ERA. She went undefeated in her three decisions against A-Sun teams with a 0.80 ERA.
Florida Atlantic is the top-seed in this week's A-Sun Championship. FAU (50-15) hosts the tournament beginning Thursday through Saturday. The Owls face no. 6 Gardner-Webb in opening round action Thursday afternoon at 1:00pm.
