University of Minnesota Athletics
Marten and Higginbotham Named NFCA First-Team All-Mideast Region
5/19/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
A native of Farmington, N.M., Marten was 21-13 in the circle this season with a 0.99 ERA and 261 strikeouts in 219.2 innings of work. She finishes her career as Minnesota's all-time leader in wins, strikeouts, complete games, appearances and innings pitched. Marten became just the fourth pitcher in Big Ten history to eclipse 1,000 career strikeouts and currently ranks third in league history and 14th in Division I history with 1,122 career strikeouts. She earned All-Big Ten honors in each of her four years with the Golden Gophers, including third-team accolades this season. This is the third straight year that Marten has been named to the All-Mideast Region Team after earning first-team honors as a sophomore and second-team honors as a junior.
Higginbotham became just the third freshman in school history to earn first-team all-region honors after leading the Golden Gophers in nearly every offensive category. The first-ever player from the state of Florida to play for Minnesota, she started all 56 games behind the plate and led Minnesota with a .358 batting average. She also paced Minnesota with nine doubles, five triples, four home runs and a .404 on-base percentage. Higginbotham ranked second on the team with 62 hits, 29 runs scored and 15 stolen bases.
A complete list of the All-Mideast Region Team is below. For other All-Region teams, go to www.nfca.org.
First Team
P - Piper Marten, Minnesota
P - Lisa Birocci, Iowa
C - Megan Higginbotham, Minnesota
1B - Saski Roberson, DePaul
2B - Alicia Laraway, Evansville
3B - Melissa Lemrick, Butler
SS - Laura Harms, Bradley
OF - Megan Ciolli, Notre Dame
OF - Amanda Williams, Marshall
OF - Breanne Nasti, Buffalo
DP - Garland Cooper, Northwestern
UT - Sarah Martz, DePaul
Second Team
P - Heather Booth, Notre Dame
P - Eileen Canney, Northwestern
P - Steffany Stenglein, Notre Dame
C - Sandyn Short, Eastern Illinois
1B - Meagan Ruthrauff, Notre Dame
2B - Carri Leto, Northwestern
3B - Kristin Amegin, Northwestern
SS - Kristin Zacher, Wisconsin
OF - Emily Winters, Evansville
OF - Erin Mobley, Northwestern
OF - Natalie Johnson, Iowa
UT - Sierra Davenport, Marshall
DP - Kylie Murray, Iowa