BENTONVILLE, Ark. – A historic season by Oklahoma Baptist continued Wednesday night as the Bison reeled in numerous All-Great American Conference accolades.
Among the honors:
Sam Maples was named Coach of the Year.
Kayleigh Jones earned Pitcher of the Year honors.
Emily Adler was selected as the GAC's Player of the Year.
Kennedy Clark was voted as the Freshman of the Year.
All of these individual honors are firsts in Bison softball history. Plus, it marks only the second time in the GAC's history (2012-present) that a school got four of the five major awards. That last time it happened was 2015 by Henderson State.
On top of those honors, OBU had players littered across the All-GAC First and Second Teams.
Jones, Adler, Clark and
Adi Reese were first-team selections while
Morgan Max and
Sammie Greene garnered second-team recognition. The six All-GAC selections are the most in program history and top last year's total of four.
Maples, in her fifth year, has pushed the Bison to heights not previously seen in its D2 history. The team's 43 wins are the second-most all-time and just two off the 2014 record of 45. Her team has won a program-record 17 straight games and is a strong candidate to make the NCAA Tournament. Plus, she helped guide OBU to its first-ever GAC Regular Season Championship after last weekend's wins over Arkansas Tech.
As for the players, Jones, a unanimous selection to the All-GAC team, earned her third all-conference nod. The senior's season has been nothing short of sensational. Jones leads the GAC in wins (30), ERA (0.66), strikeouts (302) and opposing batting average (.159). She is the first player in GAC history to have 30 wins and 300+ strikeouts in the same year. Jones has two no-hitters this season as well, most recently during last week's 4-0 win over ATU. Furthermore, Jones became OBU's all-time wins leader (60) after a sweep of Ouachita on April 15.
Adler, a newcomer that transferred from Butler Community College, has made an instant impact. She is the GAC leader in batting average (.423), hits (66) and on-base (.492). She also ranks in the top-ten in runs scored (36) and stolen bases (17). Adler had a 14-game hitting streak at one point this season and has attained as many as four hits twice.
Garnering postseason honors for the first time is Reese, who plays second base. She has eight homers, good for seventh in the GAC, and her 39 RBI are tied for fifth. Reese is also slotted ninth in slugging (.578). The senior from Whitewater, Kansas blasted two home runs against Southwest Baptist on March 14, a team season-high, while also driving in four that game. Additionally, her 10 doubles this year are one off the team lead.
Rounding out OBU's first-team selections is Clark. She is just the second freshman in OBU history to earn All-GAC First Team honors. The last time that happened was 2018 as catcher Dani Manning was honored. This season, Clark has attained multiple hits in 14 games and her .387 batting average is tops among all the freshmen in the league. She also checks in at fourth in on-base percentage (.447). Furthermore, Clark has been outstanding defensively with a .979 fielding percentage.
OBU's final honorees are Greene and Max.
For Greene, it is her second career All-GAC nod. Last year, she was an honorable mention selection. After dealing with some injuries earlier this season, Greene has been on a tear the last few weeks. She has a .349 batting average, has hits in 13 of the last 16 games and has 16 stolen bases. Defensively, Greene has been perfect with 43 putouts, two assists and no errors.
Max, another newcomer and second-team selection, has made an impact in the batter's box and in the circle. She has a .333 batting average, 10 doubles, six homers and 34 RBI which rank 11th in the GAC. Max had a season-high three hits versus Ouachita on April 14 and drove in a season-best three runs on two different occasions. In the circle, Max has made 10 appearances, posted a 2.5 ERA and struck out 30.
