SB's Bye, Wright, Wightman are All-Americans

May 19, 2008

St. Thomas pitcher-1B Maria Bye became the first Tommie and joined a select group of Division III players to make first-team All-America three consecutive seasons.

Bye (SR-Maple Plain/Orono) was joined by teammates Alison Wright (SO-Pewaukee, Wis.) and Katy Wightman (JR-Forest Lake) on the NFCA Louisville Slugger All-America teams announced Thrusday. Wright made second-team outfield; Wightman, a second baseman, made second-team at-large.

No other MIAC players made the 45-player All-America teams.

St. Thomas had no softball All-Americans in the program's first 25 seasons but has had 15 honorees over the last six seasons under Coach John Tschida. The All-American trio led UST to a 42-5 record, including a 27-0 run through the MIAC and a 39-3 record vs. D-III teams. The Tommies lost 5-4 in eight innings in the NCAA regional to evental national champion UW-Eau Claire.

Bye tied the MIAC career record for winning percentage of 44-1 also held by former teammate Janet Nagle. In all-game stats, Bye surpassed Nagle's MIAC record for career strikeouts and wins. Bye became the first player in Division III history to record 85 wins and 700 strikeouts as a pitcher and hit more than 35 home runs as a batter.

In 2008 MIAC games, she led the conference with a .564 batting average, 30 RBI, and eight home runs. On the mound, Bye led the conference with a 0.28 ERA and was 10-0 with 67 strikeouts over her 49.2 innings of work. In all 47 games, Bye finished 21-2 with a 1.29 ERA, and in batting hit .397 with 52 hits, 42 RBI, 36 runs, 12 home runs, 11 doubles, 17 walks and a .756 slugging percentage.

Bye, who has a 3.93 gpa in Biochemistry, is also on the ballot with a chance to receive first-team Academic All-America honors for the third consecutive season. She was named the College Sporting News MIAC Female Student-Athlete of the Year.

Wright took fourth in MIAC batting at .542 with 32 hits in 21 games. She also had 26 runs, five homers, 20 doubles, 10 steals and five walks. In all 47 game stats, Wright led conference players with 68 hits and batted .493 with 45 runs, 17 doubles, nine home runs, 37 RBI, nine walks, 16 steals, a .527 on-base percentage and an .812 slugging percentage. In her two-year career, UST is 84-9 (50-0 vs. MIAC teams) ans he's batting .448 with 121 hits, 70 runs, 70 RBI, 13 homers, 28 doubles and two triples in 92 games.

Wightman hit .397 in 21 games with 23 hits, 24 runs, 15 RBI, five doubles, one homer, one triple, 11 steals and five walks. In all 46 games, Wightman batted .428 with 59 hits, 43 runs, 38 RBI, 10 doubles, five home runs, one triple, 13 walks and 16 steals. In her two seasons as a starter, she's batting .440 in 89 games with 115 hits, 85 runs, 61 RBI, 38 steals and 25 walks.

Click here to see complete teams:

http://www.nfca.org/pagebank/?id=1165

Alison Wright

Katy Wightman