A-SUN ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS (PDF)
KENNESAW, Ga. – The Kennesaw State team garnered three Atlantic Sun All-Conference honors as senior
Sharon Swanson (Canton, Ga./Cherokee HS) was named First-Team All-Conference, junior
Amanda Henderson (Covington, Ga./Eastside HS) nabbed Second-Team All-Conference accolades and senior
Jensen Hackett (Tunnel Hill, Ga./Ringgold HS) was named to the Academic All-Conference Team, the conference announced on Tuesday.
“We are very excited and happy for Jensen, Sharon and Amanda,” said Head Coach
Scott Whitlock. “Sharon and Amanda have had outstanding years on the field and I am very happy that the coaches in the conference acknowledged it by electing them as all-conference. It was very fitting that Jensen Hackett was named to the all-academic team because she epitomizes what is today’s student-athlete. She gives everything she has in the classroom and then comes out and gives everything she has on the field. We are very proud of all three of these young women.”
Swanson earns her third-straight A-Sun All-Conference First-Team honor after being named to the first-team following her sophomore and junior seasons. Swanson has led the Owls offensively throughout the entire season, posting a team-leading .354 batting average, which also ranked eighth in the conference, as well as leading KSU in hits (57), runs (22), RBI (34), home runs (10), total bases (94), slugging percentage (.584), on-base percentage (.395) and sacrifice flies (three). Her 57 hits also rank third in the conference and she has also notched seven doubles, which ranks second on the team. The senior was also strong defensively, owning a 1.000 fielding percentage with 89 putouts and two assists in limited play at first base.
During the regular season, Swanson tallied an eight-game hitting streak, as well as a seven-game hitting streak, while also registering 15 multi-hit games, including five three-hit games. She registered eight multi-RBI games, including a season-high four RBI in a 6-2 win over Georgia Southern.
Henderson, who garnered A-Sun All-Conference First-Team accolades a season ago, has been the ace of the KSU pitching staff and has collected three A-Sun Pitcher of the Week honors in 2013. Henderson is 18-4 on the season, with an ERA of 1.75 in 164.1 innings. She has totaled 14 complete games, six shutouts and four saves. The junior has given up only 41 earned runs, while striking out 193 batters, which ranks first in the A-Sun. Opponents are batting just at a .197 clip against the junior, who did not give up a triple in the regular season. She posted 13 games with seven or more strikeouts, as well as five games with 10 or more strikeouts, including a season-high 14 against Lipscomb on March 16.
The Covington, Ga., native ranks in the top of many categories in both the A-Sun and the NCAA, including first in batters struck out, batters struck out looking and saves in the A-Sun, as well as ranking second in earned run average and opposing batting average. She also ranks in the top 55 in several categories in the NCAA, including saves (17th), shutouts (31st), strikeouts (38th), strikeouts per seven innings (42nd), hits allowed per seven innings (44th), victories (53rd) and ERA (55th).
Hackett, an exercise and health science major, ranks fourth on the team with a .280 batting average with 23 hits, including four doubles, 12 runs and seven RBI. She went a perfect 3-for-3 in stolen bases during the regular season and saw action 47 games, making 28 starts. In A-Sun action, the senior made her final season as an Owl count, ranking second on the team with a .350 batting average and contributing 14 hits, including three doubles, five runs and four RBI. She also posted a 1.000 fielding percentage in league play, with 21 putouts. Hackett had two of her best games in her career during the 2013 season, posting a 4-for-4 performance plus a run and an RBI in a 4-3 win at North Florida, as well as a 3-for-3 effort in a 3-2 win over Florida Gulf Coast.
The fifth-seeded Owls open the 2013 Atlantic Sun Conference Championship against fourth-seeded Lipscomb on Wednesday, May 8 at 6:30 p.m. (ET) on the Bison’s’ home field, Draper Diamond, in Nashville, Tenn.
Keep up with Owls softball this year by following KSU on Twitter at @KSUOwlNation and @
KSUOwlsSoftball, or by liking Kennesaw State Owls on
Facebook.
Kennesaw State is celebrating 30 years of intercollegiate athletics during the 2012-13 academic year.
