Ferguson, Lenzora and Uchida Earn Second-Team All-WAC Softball Honors

Utah State [University] softball's Tina Ferguson, Kassy Uchida and Allison Lenzora were all named to the all-Western Athletic Conference second team; it was announced by the league office Wednesday [May 11, 2011] prior to the start of the WAC Tournament. The three honorees are the most since Utah State joined the WAC for the 2006 season.

The last time that Utah State had three players earn postseason honors was in 2005 when Quela Leonhardt, Sara Fleming and Leslie Higley earned all-Big West honors. Utah State has now earned nine all-WAC honors. Last season, outfielder Nicole Tindall earned first team honors. Tindall was the first Aggie to earn first-team all-WAC honors since Amy Schaible and Kayla Dunn in 2008. Overall, Utah State has now had 68 all-conference honorees all-time. Uchida and Lenzora are the first Aggies to earn all-WAC honors as freshmen.

Ferguson, a sophomore catcher from Payson, Utah (Spanish Fork HS), led the team in hitting in WAC games with a stellar .407 batting average. She played in 18 of USU's 21 WAC games and was tied for first on the team with five doubles. Ferguson ended WAC play 10th in the conference in both slugging percentage (.593) and on base percentage (.448).

Uchida, a freshman utility player from Burbank, Calif. (Burbank HS), has been solid for the Aggies all season, hitting over .300 for the bulk of the season. In WAC only games, Uchida was third on the team with a .383 batting average. Playing both second base and in the outfield, the freshman ended conference play tied for first on the team in hits with 23.

Lenzora, a freshman shortstop from Manteca, Calif. (Central Catholic HS), came on strong during WAC play, hitting .400 behind Ferguson. The .400 average was the seventh best in the league in conference games. She had 20 hits in WAC games, including two doubles.

For the second-straight season, Hawai`i's Jessica Iwata was named the WAC Player of the Year, while her teammate Stephanie Ricketts earned WAC Pitcher of the Year honors. New Mexico State's Stephanie Swedberg was named the WAC Freshman of the Year, and New Mexico State head coach Kathy Rodolph earned WAC Coach of the Year honors.

Fifth-seeded Utah State now opens the WAC Tournament against fourth-seeded Hawai`i  Wednesday, May 11, at 5:30 p.m. MT. Streaming is available for the WAC Tournament at www.WAC.tv, while live stats for Utah State games can be found at www.utahstateaggies.com.

This is the first trip to the tournament for head coach Carissa Millsap-Kalaba. The second-year head coach led the Aggies to a 15-40 overall record and a 8-13 WAC record this season. It is the most wins in conference action since USU went 8-16 in the Big West in 2002.

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