Four Named NFCA First Team All-Region

NFCA All-Region Teams

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Marshall softball team had four players named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Mideast Region First Team, the organization announced on Thursday. It is the first time in program history that four players were honored as first team selections.

Garnering the distinctions are fifth-year seniors Aly Harrell and Saige Pye, redshirt junior Sydney Nester and senior Mya Stevenson.

Harrell earns her fourth All-Region selection. She was named to the third team as a freshman (2018), second team in 2019 and first team in 2021. No postseason awards were issued in 2020 due to the remainder of the season being cancelled due to COVID. Harrell leaves Marshall with a case full of awards and honors, a degree, and will go down as one of the greatest players in team history. Her name can be found all throughout the record books including in the top 10 in 18 different offensive and defensive career categories. Harrell was honored as the 2022 Warrior Award winner as she has shown her love of the program, Marshall University and her teammates throughout her five seasons in Huntington. The Gahanna, Ohio, native went on a tear to end her Herd career batting .600 in the Conference USA Tournament. She smashed four home runs, drove in six, slugged 1.800, had a .733 on base percentage and reached base nine-straight plate appearances to begin the tournament. With her home runs, Harrell became the third member of the Marshall softball 50 Home Runs Club, finishing with 53. Her eye at the plate allowed her to obliterate the old career walks record (147) to finish with 175. Harrell finishes her career first all-time in on base percentage (.562), second in hit-by-pitches (52), second in total bases (428), tied for second in RBI (171), third in slugging percentage (.752) and just the third player in team history to reach base in 200 career games. Harrell reached base in 50-of-53 games in 2022, and had only 20 games in her career when she did not reach base, getting on board in 90.9-percent of her games played. She was named a First Team All-Conference USA selection for the fourth time. Harrell was also honored as Senior CLASS Award Finalist.

Pye only spent parts of three seasons with Marshall. She began her collegiate career at Georgia Tech and then transferred to the Herd before the 2020 season. Pye played in 25 games in 2020, another 25 games in an abbreviated 2021 season and finally was able to play a full season in 2022 taking the field in all 53 games. In the previous shortened two seasons, Pye had shown just how dangerous she could be at the plate. In 2022, the Stockton, California, native exploded tying the team single-season record with 20 home runs. She hit two more during the C-USA Tournament to reach 20. The record-tying shot came in the bottom of the fifth to help spark Marshall on a comeback against Charlotte in an elimination game. Pye became the seventh different player in team history with 50 or more RBI in a season finishing second on the team with 51. She also finished second on the team with 59 hits, just three behind Harrell. Pye led the Herd in slugging percentage at .795 and was named a First Team All-C-USA selection for the second time. The slugger could also hit for average as Pye bat .398 in her Marshall career, fourth all-time, and reached base in 91-of-103 games (88.3-percent) in her time with the Green & White. In a short span, Pye left her mark in the Herd record books. She leaves with a degree as well as tops all-time in slugging percentage (.777), fifth in home runs (34) and became the 14th member of the Herd 100 RBI Club averaging almost one RBI per game as she totaled 102.

Nester exploded onto the scene in the circle for Marshall after playing three years at North Carolina State. She came to the Herd following the 2021 season with her bachelor's degree in hand and ready to win and set records. The Hillsville, Virginia, native earned her first All-Region honor after a spectacular season. Nester became the first Marshall pitcher to begin a season with back-to-back double-digit strikeout performances and shutouts. She tossed 13 strikeouts in a two-hit shutout over Saint Joseph's in the season-opener, and then came back the next day with 11 Ks in another shutout against Villanova. Nester tied her career-high with 15 strikeouts in wins over Fairfield (March 13) and Florida Atlantic (April 8). She became the fastest in team history to record 100 strikeouts (58 innings) and 200 strikeouts (137 innings). Nester tied the program record with 12 games of 10 or more strikeouts and tied for the second-most shutouts in a season with 11. The right-hander finished the season tied for the third-most strikeouts in team history with 294, the fifth-most wins with 26 and set the Herd record averaging 9.03 strikeouts per seven innings. She was named Conference USA Pitcher of the Week six times during the year, setting the Marshall record for most in a season, and becoming the first pitcher in the league to earn at least six weekly honors since 2016. Nester was honored by the league as the Conference USA Pitcher and Newcomer of the Year, as well as being named First Team All-C-USA. She has one more year of eligibility remaining.

Former Herd player Stevenson earned her second All-Region selection. She finished the season with 56 hits, 41 runs scored, 55 RBI and 19 home runs. Stevenson is Marshall's all-time home run leader finishing with 59. She hit the record-breaker to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning against Charlotte that tied the score at 9-9 in an elimination game in the Conference USA Tournament. The outfielder was named Second Team All-C-USA and a member of the All-Tournament team as well.

The Herd had three players named First Team All-Mideast Region in 2009 and 2017.

For all of the latest information on the Marshall Softball team, follow the Herd on Twitter @HerdSB, Facebook at Marshall University Softball and on www.herdzone.com.

---HerdZone.com---

Marshall University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Aly Harrell

Sydney Nester

Saige Pye

Mya Stevenson

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