University of Minnesota Athletics
Three Gophers Earn NFCA All-Mideast Region
5/15/2002 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Hays earned her third all-region honor after being named second team in both 2001 and 2000. The Hastings, Minn. native led the Golden Gopher in batting average, at-bats, hits, runs, on-base percentage and stolen bases for the third consecutive year. Her .404 batting average this year is the fifth highest in school history, while bringing her career average to .346. Hays set school records with 86 stolen bases in her career and three in a single game in 2002. She also ranks in the school's top five in five different career offensive categories.
Marten, a two-time All-Big Ten Conference honoree, led the league with 281 strikeouts in the regular season, breaking her own school record of 249 set in 2001. In just two seasons, Marten owns the Minnesota school record with 530 career strikeouts. She also posted her second consecutive 20-win season, while throwing four no-hitters in 2002, including a perfect game. Marten also struck out a school-record 15 batters on two occasions.
Nygren is also making her third appearance on the all-Region team, after being named first team her first and second years at Minnesota. Nygren led the Gophers in RBI, slugging percentage and walks and was second on the team in hits and on-base percentage. With six home runs in 2002, she now stands second on Minnesota's all-time list with 34, while driving in 136 run in her career.
The Golden Gophers will open the NCAA Tournament with a 5 p.m. contest with Princeton, Thursday evening at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium.
