5 May 2002

Titans Place Six on all-CCIW Softball Team

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- Illinois Wesleyan sophomore Kelly Murray has been named "Pitcher of the Year" and five other members of the league champion Titans were chosen to the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin all-league softball team.

Murray, along with sophomore catcher Kat Mason and freshman third baseman Colleen Schuster were named to the first team of the all-CCIW squad.

Senior second baseman Mandi Cioni and junior shortstop Stephanie Hieser were elected to the second team while sophomore outfielder Nicole Williams was voted to the third team.

Murray (Bloomington, Central Catholic HS) was fourth in the league with a 1.14 earned run average and had a 6-0 league record. She allowed 28 hits in 43 innings and was third in the CCIW with 34 strikeouts. As a batter and first baseman, Murray finished fourth in the CCIW with a .379 batting mark and led the conference with 11 runs batted in.

Mason (Galesburg HS) batted .300 in league play with two doubles and six RBI.

Schuster (Joliet HS) was 14th in the league with a .319 batting mark. She had six doubles.

Cioni (Granville, Putnam County HS) batted .211 against CCIW opponents and had four doubles and five runs batted in.

Hieser (Minier, Stanford Olympia HS) was an all-CCIW selection as a freshman and as a sophomore. This spring she was sixth in the CCIW with a .355 batting mark.

The speedy Williams (Park Forest, Crete Monee HS) led the conference with seven stolen bases in eight attempts. She batted .333 in nine league games.

Cassandra Hallstrom of Augustana was chosen as the "Player of the Year" while Wheaton's Pete Felske earned "Coach of the Year" honors.

The Titans, who won the league tournament in three games this weekend, will play in the NCAA Division III regional tournament this weekend and should find out their opponents and the location of the regional on Sunday. IWU is 31-9 overall and finished 12-2 during the CCIW regular season.

CONTACT: Stew Salowitz, 309-556-3206 and/or head coach Beth Hasheider, 309-556-3348