Softball | 5/9/2023 9:15:00 AM
EAST GREENSBORO – North Carolina A&T softball's first year in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) in 2023 has been a vast improvement from the team's first year in the Big South Conference in 2022. After winning only three Big South conference games last season and not qualifying for the tournament, the Aggies won 10 CAA games this season, qualified for the 2023 CAA Softball Tournament Championships, and will carry into the tournament two All-CAA performers.
The conference announced its postseason honors Tuesday morning with two Aggies making second-team all-conference in senior center fielder Jai Deese and freshman pitcher/utility player Megan Ellis.
Deese certainly had a bounce-back season after playing only one game in 2022 after transferring to Aggieland from Louisburg Junior College in 2021. In 48 games played with 47 starts, Deese is batting .360 with nine home runs, nine doubles and 30 RBI. In the conference, she ranks third in slugging percentage (.633), fourth in on-base/slugging percentage (1.025), fourth in home runs, seventh in batting, seventh in RBI, eighth in doubles and ninth in hits (50).
On April 10, the CAA named her player of the week after Deese hit safely in all five games the previous week, including three multiple-hit performances, extending her hitting streak to seven straight games. She batted .471 (8-for-17) for the week, posting a .526 on-base percentage and a .824 slugging percentage in the process.
In CAA games only, Deese is batting .351 with six home runs, seven doubles and 22 RBI. She holds a .689 slugging percentage, a .388 on-base percentage, and an amazing 1.077 on-base/slugging percentage while scoring 12 times against CAA opponents.
Ellis had a fantastic first season with the Aggies. As a pitcher, she led the team in ERA at 4.60. She made 17 appearances with eight starts, going 5-4 in 58.2 innings pitched. Ellis pitched two complete games during the season, including an impressive 4-3 win over UNC Wilmington at the University of South Carolina's tournament earlier this season, where Ellis gave up one run on three hits.
Her other complete-game win came against Hofstra on April 2 when she did not surrender an earned run and gave up three hits and two walks, leading the Aggies to a 5-2 win over the Pride. That performance earned Ellis CAA pitcher of the week honors. In addition, she had top-10 rankings in the conference in seven different statistical categories.
She ranked second in fewest triples allowed (1), fourth in doubles permitted (9), sixth in fewest runs allowed (42), seventh in fewest earned runs allowed (33), eighth in fewest walks allowed (22), ninth in fewest hits allowed (78), and ninth in fewest home runs allowed (9). Ellis had 115 at-bats at the plate and batted .174 with five doubles and 11 RBI.
The Aggies, the No. 8 seed, open the CAA tournament against fifth-seeded Towson at noon today. The winner will face fourth-seeded Elon in the double-elimination portion of the tournament Wednesday at noon from Bill Edwards Stadium in Hempstead, NY.
