Softball - 4 Garner ALL-Big East Awards

[Brad]

Courtesy USF

Four USF Players Garner All-BIG EAST Conference Honors

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (May 9, 2007) –University of South Florida softball players Britta Giddens, Danielle Urbanik, Kit Dunbar and Cristi Ecks garnered All-BIG EAST Conference Honors, as announced by the league Wednesday night at the Championship Banquet held at the South Bend Marriott.  

The selections were voted on by the league’s head coaches and were based on BIG EAST only statistics.

Danielle Urbanik earned First Team All-BIG EAST honors. The senior is having a career year, leading the team in batting average (.432), RBI (17) and home runs (3). She has the team-best .682 slugging percentage and .490 on-base percentage. She finished the conference season ranked the following among all players: third in RBI, fourth in on-base percentage, fourth in batting, third in slugging. The Riverview, Fla., native tallied six multi-hit games and three multi-RBI efforts, which included two four-RBI outings. This honor marks the second time Urbanik has been honored by a conference office.

Britta Giddens garnered First Team All-BIG EAST accolades for the first time in her career. The sophomore leads the team with 27 hits, 16 runs scored, and is second with 12 RBI, four doubles and a .397 batting average. Giddens led USF to three league wins, hitting a walk-off grand slam against Rutgers, making a stellar defensive play to end a rally in the seventh inning by St. John’s, and hitting a two-run homer against Seton Hall to give the Bulls the victory. In BIG EAST games, the infielder finished ranked fifth in batting, third in runs scored, third in hits and sixth in on-base percentage.  

Junior Kit Dunbar earned her first collegiate honor, garnering Second Team All-BIG EAST accolades. Dunbar played and started in every league game in right field and finished third on the team with a .368 average, 21 hits, 11 runs scored and was fourth with four doubles. A native of Clearwater, Fla., Dunbar transferred to USF this season and is having a break-out year, setting career-highs in every offensive category.  

Sophomore Cristi Ecks makes her second-straight appearance on the All-BIG EAST team, garnering second team honors. The pitcher led the team with a 0.62 ERA, three saves and an opposing batting average of .182. With a record of 3-1 in conference games, the Manassas, Va., native only gave up three earned runs in 33 and two-thirds inning pitched and stuck out 29 batters while only walking six. Ecks finished the season ranked the following in the BIG EAST: second in ERA, third in opposing batting average, first in earned runs, first in hits allowed.

[The Sheriff]

Second team for Cristi... she will take this out on their asses this weekend. She is the 2nd best pitcher in the Big East... I thought they had more than one first team pitcher selection! What the hell! Way to go Britta... the girl has game! Don't be surprised to see JoJo Medina and Courtney Mosch on this team next year as well.