Softball 7/24/2020 5:41:00 PM Adam Stanek - MACU Sports Information

MACU Softball Leads SAC With Nine Scholar-Athletes

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Sooner Athletic Conference announced its Scholar-Athletes for softball on Friday as Mid-America Christian produced a league-leading nine recipients.

To receive SAC Scholar-Athlete honors, a player must be a junior or above by academic standing with at least a 3.5 cumulative grade-point average, appear on the eligibility certificate for an NAIA-recognized sport and have either attended two full years as a non-transfer or one full year as a transfer.

Of the 36 softball student-athletes in the Sooner Athletic Conference that were honored, Mid-America Christian made up a quarter of the league's honorees, while senior catcher and outfielder Hannah Salmon was the only player in the SAC to record a 4.0 GPA.

"Hannah (Salmon) had a fantastic career on the field and even greater career in the classroom," said MACU Head Coach Robert Wakefield. "There aren't very many people that compete in college athletics and maintain a 4.0 GPA throughout their entire collegiate career. All these young ladies have so far done a great job of taking care of business in the classroom. It was an exceptional team this year."

Recently receiving her Bachelor's Degree in Accounting and Ethics, Salmon put together one of the most decorated careers in program history in her three-year stint with the Evangels.

Salmon is one of just four MACU student-athletes in the last decade to earn NCCAA All-American honors, collecting Third Team accolades after her stellar sophomore season. The Oklahoma City native is also one of just three players in the history of the program to be named to the All-SAC Team three times in her career, joining Hanna Harris and Jackie Hilterbran as the only other players to do so.

The 5-6 righty finished her MACU career by setting several NAIA era career marks, including being the program's record-holder for on-base percentage (.432), triples (7), runs batted in (96) and stolen bases allowed percentage (.700). Salmon also holds top five marks for: batting average (.379, 2^nd), slugging percentage (.497, 3^rd), hits (150, 4^th), total bases (197, 4^th) and runs scored. (87, 4^th).

Despite the season being shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Salmon earned All-SAC First Team accolades for the first time in her career, wrapping up the season with a .353 batting average while her 17 RBIs (0.94 RBI/game) was the seventh-best ratio in the SAC. Salmon led the team with five doubles and a triple while placing second on the team with 15 runs.

Salmon took home SAC Player of the Week honors after leading MACU to doubleheader sweeps over Sterling (Kan.) and Southwestern (Kan.), batting a combined .818 with nine RBIs and four runs to go with an .857 on-base percentage between the two series.

Another highly decorated player graduating from the MACU program, Ribbin Dorado received her Bachelor's Degree in Ministry Leadership after compiling a 3.85 cumulative GPA.

The four-year standout was an NCCAA Third Team All-American in 2018 and was a two-time All-SAC honoree.

A 5-6 outfielder from Cushing, Oklahoma, Dorado wrapped up her MACU career with the second-most stolen bases (44) and third-most runs (95) while also recording NAIA era career marks in batting average (.339, 7^th), hits (124, 7^th), triples (4, 8^th) and on-base percentage (.379, 9^th).

Dorado was one of the team's top hitters in 2020, finishing the season with a career-best .380 batting average while notching the team's fourth-most runs scored (11) and fourth-most stolen bases (4).

In a 4-3 extra inning loss to Central Christian on Feb. 28, Dorado became just one of three Evangels to hit home runs in the 2020 season and the only one to hit one of the inside-the-park variety after slapping a ball down the left field line. In a bounce back 8-3 victory in the second game of that doubleheader, Dorado recorded one of her best outings of the season, reaching base three times after going 2-for-2 from the plate with a double and a run scored to go with a walk.

Also wrapping up a stellar four-year career at MACU, Caitlin Butler received Scholar-Athlete honors after graduating from MACU with a 3.88 GPA to receive her Bachelor's Degree in Ministry Leadership.

The two-time NCCAA Scholar-Athlete finished her MACU career by notching the fifth-most triples in the NAIA era (5), the fifth-most stolen bases (30) while her four saves as a pitcher are the third-most in the MACU record book. Defensively, Butler also recorded the fourth-most assists (198) and turned the fifth-most double plays (12).

During the 2020 season, the infielder from Decatur, Texas turned in a career-best batting average (.325), turned in the second-most stolen bases with six while scoring nine runs and notching eight RBIs. In the field, Butler led the team with 54 assists and committed just three errors for a .961 fielding percentage while turning three double plays.

Offensively, Butler's best game of the season came in an 8-7 loss to McPherson (Kan.) on Mar. 7, where she went 2-for-3 with three RBIs to go with a triple and a run.

Another senior wrapping up a fantastic three-year career, Jessica Holt leaves MACU with a cumulative GPA of 3.81 while receiving her Bachelor's Degree in Accounting and Ethics.

The Evangels' starting centerfielder, Holt was a two-time All-Sooner Athletic Conference honoree as well as a two-time NCCAA Scholar-Athlete.

The 5-6 righty from Oklahoma City closed out her MACU career by recording the fifth-most stolen bases in the NAIA era with 30 as well as scored the 10^th-most runs with 64.

Last season, Holt recorded a .310 batting average and led the team with 16 runs and stole seven bases. Holt started off her senior campaign red-hot from the plate, batting 8-for-13 (.615) with eight runs and a pair of RBIs in a pair of doubleheader sweeps over Crowley's Ridge (Ark.) and Sterling (Kan.). Holt batted 3-for-4 in two of the games in the series as well as scored three runs in the opening game against Sterling.

In the circle, senior McKenzie Smith wrapped up her Evangels career with a 3.75 GPA while majoring in Biology and was named NCCAA Scholar-Athlete as well.

Smith earned All-SAC Second Team honors following her senior season, going 5-3 in 10 starts and posting a 3.08 earned run average with a team-leading 21 strikeouts.

The 5-6 righty from Oklahoma City pitched a stellar game in her second outing of the season, tossing six innings of one-run ball, including five straight shutout innings to start in a 9-1 victory over Sterling on Feb. 17. Smith gave up just four hits and two walks while striking out a career-high six batters.

A junior from Sheridan, Arkansas, Regan Martin earned her first SAC Scholar-Athlete accolade after finishing the 2019-20 academic year with a 3.66 GPA while majoring in Early Childhood Education.

The two-time NCCAA All-American and two-time All-SAC pitcher returned from an early season injury, but found her stride by recording a 2.15 ERA in nine appearances and four starts, striking out 19 and walking just four for a team-best 4.75-to-1 strikeout to walk ratio.

Martin had a couple of strong six-inning outings late in the season while suffering a couple of tough luck losses to Kansas Wesleyan and Our Lady of the Lake. The 5-4 righty allowed just three hits and four unearned runs while striking out a season-best four batters. Against the Saints, she followed it up by allowing just two runs and struck out three.

In her first season with the Evangels, junior infielder Faith Hollingsworth completed the 2019-20 academic year with a 3.86 GPA while majoring in Secondary Education at MACU.

An NCCAA Scholar-Athlete and All-SAC Second Team honoree, Hollingsworth was one of the top bats in the Evangels lineup with the squad's best slugging percentage (.585), second-best batting average (.390) and drove in the third-most RBIs (13).

The 5-7 righty from Burkburnett, Texas recorded a pair of three-hit games for MACU, batting 3-for-3 with a double and three RBIs in a 9-6 victory over Central Christian on Feb. 29 and followed it up later in the season with a 3-of-4 performance with three RBIs, finishing just a home run away from the cycle in a tough 13-12 loss at Southwestern (Kan.) on Mar. 3.

Another newcomer to the Evangels, Camenda Osborn wrapped up her junior campaign with a 3.75 GPA while majoring in Psychology at MACU.

Osborn batted .333 in 18 games, hitting three doubles and scoring four runs to go with seven RBIs. In the season-opening doubleheader against Crowley's Ridge, the 5-7 Ponca City, Oklahoma native went 4-for-6 with a double from the plate.

Junior third baseman Kylie Stubbs rounds out the Evangels honorees as the Business Administration and Ethics major finished out the year with a 3.71 GPA.

Despite missing five games, Stubbs was a strong producer in the MACU lineup, batting .323 while scoring 10 runs and driving in six.

The Bells, Texas native put together a strong series against Southwestern on Feb. 20, slashing 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles and scored three runs in the doubleheader sweep.

As a whole, Mid-America Christian has produced at a high level academically, earning both SAC Scholar Team and NCCAA Scholar Team honors, posting the highest annual GPA of any team in the league while notching the second-highest GPA nationally in the NCCAA at 3.72.

To view the complete list of MACU's Scholar-Athlete recipients, check out the list below.

SAC Softball Scholar-Athletes

*-denotes 4.0 GPA