Soria Leads Sun Devil Softball Postseason Awards Haul

Sun Devil Athletics

June 10, 2016

TEMPE ? Jennifer Soria cleaned up the postseason award haul for the Arizona State University softball team, earning First Team All-Pac-12 and All-West Region honors while being named a Pac-12 All-Academic Selection as well. Soria’s efforts led a group of 13 Sun Devils that earned postseason awards in some fashion for the 2016 season.

Soria was the lifeblood of the Sun Devils this season, voted by her teammates and coaches as the team’s Offensive and Defensive MVP as well as the overall Team MVP. The senior finished the season with a .348 average - leading the team’s day-to-day starters ? while adding a team-leading 15 home runs, a total good for 13th in ASU’s single-season history.? A total of 12 of those home runs came against teams ranked in the Top 75 in this season’s RPI while she actually had a .373 regular season average against RPI Top-75 teams, showing off her ability to step up her play against tougher opponents.

Soria added a team-leading 53 runs scored ? 16 more than any other Sun Devil on the team ? and led the squad with 12 doubles as well. The Simi Valley native set personal records in every major offensive category this season. She finished the regular season in the Pac-12’s Top 10 in home runs, doubles, runs and slugging percentage.

As a result, Soria earned Pac-12 First-Team honors as well as a nod to the NFCA First Team. It was the first time in her career to be named to either team.

Additionally, her exceptional defense led to 92 putouts during the regular season ? a total that was 26 more than any other pure center fielder in the Pac-12 and 30 more than any Sun Devil players for an entire season in at least a decade. Soria’s highlight reel plays in the outfield earned her a spot on the Pac-12 All-Defensive team while her home run stealing catch against LSU in the Regional Finals was featured by the Pac-12 Networks as the conference’s softball Play of the Year.

Only need 1 angle to know that @jennsoria5 had Catch of the Year! No. 1 play on @Pac12Network #12Best of the Year! https://t.co/Nyj2rufQw7
? Sun Devil Softball (@ASUSoftball) June 10, 2016

To put the icing on the cake, Soria earned her degree in Family and Human Development and finished with a 3.49 GPA in the process. That accomplishment earned her CoSIDA Academic All-District accolades while she was named a Second-Team Pac-12 All-Academic selection as well.

Joining Soria on the All-Pac-12 team was Second-Team shortstop Chelsea Gonzales and Third-Team second baseman Nikki Girard.

Gonzales earned her second consecutive selection to the All-Pac-12 team, finishing 2016 with a .309 average with 12 home runs and a team-leading 47 RBIs. The junior is fast-moving up the ASU career record books and finds herself entering her senior year ranked 14th in career home runs (31), 14th in career RBIs (134) and 19th in career doubles (26).

Gonzales led the team with 14 multi-RBI games this season and was second on the squad with 14 multi-hit games.

After struggling in the field early this season with 13 errors in the first 21 games of action, Gonzales had just three errors in her final 37 games. Her .956 fielding percentage in Pac-12 games was the highest among all conference shortstops.?

Girard also made her second straight appearance on the All-Conference team and third appearance overall after being named an All-Freshman choice in her first season.

A career .259 hitter entering the year, Girard bat .319 in the 2016 regular season and spent the majority of the season in the cleanup spot. ?Girard was otherworldly with runners in scoring position in the regular season, going 30-for-62 on the year (.483) when she had a chance to bring a runner home. That total is especially impressive when you consider she had just 16 hits with RISP in the entirety of 2015.?The senior finished second on the team with a career-high 46 RBIs on the season and finished her career with 124 total RBIs ? the 16th-most in ASU history.

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of her game, however, was her ability to post at least one highlight reel defensive play per game at second base as she fielded at an exceptionally high clip at one of the toughest positions on the field at second base with her .969 fielding percentage during the regular season good for the highest mark among all Pac-12 second basemen. Girard had just one single error in Pac-12 games this season and she fielded at a .988 clip in conference games. She finished the season with 29 straight games without an error.

Girard’s efforts earned her first career nod on the NFCA All-Region Team as she was named a third-team selection in the West Region.

Joining Soria and Girard on the All-West Region team was First Team selection Fa Leilua and Second Team pick Sashel Palacios. Palacios earned her second straight nod at catcher on the All-Region team while Leilua, a freshman, earned the First Team spot for the DP/Utility/Non-Pitcher position.

Leilua ? also named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team ? led the Sun Devils with a .368 average with six home runs and 21 RBIs. Leilua was ASU’s top hitter in Pac-12 games, batting at a .395 clip (ninth in the Pac-12) with a .495 on-base percentage that was good for fifth in the league. She was the only Sun Devil to maintain over a .350 average in all of ASU’s wins and losses.

Palacios was one of the Devils’ hottest players down the stretch. After an 11-game stretch prior to the Washington series where she managed just two hits, Palacios had a hit in 13 of the final 16 games of the regular season and had multiple hits in seven of those.?

Once at the bottom of the team’s starters in batting average earlier, Palacios climbed 40 points in Pac-12 action and finished the regular season with a .336 average that was fifth on the team while she was second on the squad with a .375 average in Pac-12 competition. She had six home runs - tied for fourth on the team - and 26 RBIs.

Among ASU’s starters, Palacios is one of just three that did not have a single error during Pac-12 games.

The final Sun Devil to earn recognition from the Pac-12 for strictly athletic performance was freshman Taylor Becerra. With third base a question mark entering the season, Becerra quickly put those thoughts to rest. The freshman fielded at a .974 clip at third base this season, the second-highest fielding percentage among all Pac-12 third basemen and the second-highest fielding percentage for a Sun Devil at third base in at least the last 25 years behind only All-American Krista Donnenwirth’s 2011 .988 fielding percentage.

Becerra had the highest fielding percentage for a freshman playing third base at ASU in at least 25 years and was the only Pac-12 third baseman to not have a defensive error in league games this season.

The youngster was also a pleasant surprise at the plate as well, finishing fourth on the team with a .329 average and third on the squad with a .417 on-base percentage.

Academically, the Sun Devils were among the most well-represented teams in the Pac-12 with nine players earning All-Academic recognition.

Breona Peralta earned a Pac-12 First Team All-Academic nod, finishing her Sun Devils career with a 3.98 GPA while earning her degree in health sciences.

Joining Soria as a Second-Team All-Academic selection was sophomore Margaret Stahm and her 3.64 GPA in management.

Six Sun Devils earned All-Academic honorable mention, including seniors Katee Aguirre, Allie Butterfield and Abby Spiel. Palacios, a junior, joined that trio while sophomores Dale Ryndak and Brynley Steele also made the list.

All told, the nine Sun Devils represented on the All-Academic team were the third most in the Pac-12 behind only Stanford (11) and Washington (10).

2016 Sun Devil Postseason Honors

NFCA All-West Region

Jenn Soria ? 1st Team

Fa Leilua ? 1st Team

Sashel Palacios ? 2nd Team

Nikki Girard ? 3rd Team

All-Pac-12 Team

Jenn Soria ? 1st Team

Chelsea Gonzales ? 2nd Team

Nikki Girard ? 3rd Team

Pac-12 All-Defensive Team