Six players from the Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) Softball team were honored when the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) announced its 2009 softball All-Americans and Academic All-Americans in conjunction with the national championship tournament, which was held this week in Decatur, Ill.

Sara Goelz, a freshman pitcher/first base player from Indianapolis, Ind., was named all named USCAA All-American. Chelsey Gerber, a sophomore outfielder from Clay City, Ind., Lindsey McNulty, a senior utility player from Indianapolis, Ind., and Aubrey Stitch, a sophomore pitcher/outfielder from Trafalgar, Ind., received All-American Honorable Mention.

In addition, McNulty and Amanda McGlone, a junior outfielder from Robinson, Ill., were named to the 2009 National All-Academic Team. To be considered for this honor, student-athletes must be sophomores, juniors or seniors and have an overall grade point average of 3.5 or higher on a 4-point scale.

Robert Morris College – Springfield, hosted the USCAA National Tournament Softball Tournament May 5-8 at Borg Warner Softball Complex. The SMWC Softball Team earned the No. 2 seed and competed in the double elimination tournament along with Robert Morris University – Springfield (No. 1 seed), Saint Catharine College (No. 3 seed), Southern Virginia University (No. 4 seed), St. Joseph’s College Brooklyn (No. 5 seed), Briarcliffe College (No. 6 seed), Judson College (No. 7 seed), and Penn State University – Beaver (No. 8 seed).

In the first game, SMWC was defeated by Judson College 1-0, but the team came back to win their second game of the national tournament, defeating Briarcliffe College by a score of 6-0. In game three, SMWC had a rematch with Judson College, this time defeating them 1-0 to advance.

Game four for SMWC was against Penn State-Beaver, and the team was again victorious with a score of 6-3. Unfortunately, SMWC’s winning streak came to an end when the team met up with Robert Morris College in the game that would determine which team would go on to compete for the national title. Robert Morris defeated SMWC 6-5, and the SMWC Softball Team finished third in the national tournament.