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Issued: May 7, 2008

SOFTALL REPRESENTED ON ALL-WIAC TEAM

MADISON, Wis. – The 25th-ranked UW-Eau Claire softball team had five members selected to All-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Team this week.

The First Team All-WIAC players were Jill Janke (Sr.-Black River Falls, Wis.), Casey Leisgang (Sr.-Seymour, Wis.), Michelle Butkus (Sr.-Medford, Wis.) and Jenny Ross (Fr.-Mendota Heights, Minn./Henry Sibley). Tessa Pecha (Sr.-Eau Claire, Wis./North) was also named to the All-Sportsmanship Team.

Along with the first-team recognition, Janke was honored with the Judy Kruckman Scholar-Athlete Award. Janke leads the team in RBIs with 39 and is batting .372. She is slugging .543 with an on-base percentage of .441. The first baseman’s five home runs are tied for second on the team. She is fifth in the WIAC for RBIs. Janke’s 329 putouts tied for first in the conference and the eight double plays she saw were second. Janke has been on the All-WIAC team for four years now.

Leisgang led the Blugolds in batting average (.457), slugging (.780), on-base percentage (.545), runs (53), hits (58), triples (3), total bases (99), walks (26) and homers (8). She has 35 career home runs, most ever for a Blugold. Her 53 runs are a Blugold record, as is her average. Leisgang stands first in the WIAC for on-base percentage and runs, second for average, third in hits and fourth in slugging. She also tied for first in free passes. On defense, the 104 assists were most for the conference. This is the fourth year in a row the second baseman has been on the all-conference team.

Butkus was the team’s doubles leader with 12, which ties for fourth among WIAC competitors. She batted in 32 while hitting .395. The third baseman was also second among Blugolds in hits (51) and total bases (80) while tied for second in homers (5). Butkus was an honorable mention last year.

Ross was the only Eau Claire pitcher named to the team. The lefty’s season highlight was the program’s first perfect game in a 3-0 win over 14th-ranked UW-Oshkosh on April 15. She has started 20 games and has gone a WIAC-leading 19-2. Her ERA stands at 1.36 and she struck out 119 in comparison to 18 walks. Opponents bat .192 off her. She is second in the conference for ERA, fourth in opponents’ batting average and fifth in Ks,

Outfielder Pecha received recognition as a selection to the All-Sportsmanship Team. Pecha batted .267 over the year with an on-base percentage of .313.

Emily Howlett from UW-River Falls was named Position Player of the Year while Ronessa Stampfli of Oshkosh and Jessica Stang of 17th-ranked UW-Whitewater were dubbed Co-Pitchers of the Year. Stampfli has held this honor for four years. Whitewater’s Brenda Volk was the Coach of the Year.

The Blugolds look to put up more stats as they compete in the national tournament for the third year in a row. Action starts up for Eau Claire at Gelein Field on Thursday at 4 p.m.

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