OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – A star on and off the field, Fighting Illini softball senior Allie Bauch has been selected as a candidate for the 2016 Senior CLASS Award. Bauch is one of 30 softball senior student-athletes who have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition.
"This is an amazing distinction for Allie and for our program," said head coach Tyra Perry. "She is very deserving of this honor and I am so proud of her. Allie is a leader on our team and works very hard both on the field and in the classroom. She completely embodies the characteristics of the Senior CLASS award."
Coming off a breakout junior season, Bauch became the first Illini softball player in program history to earn CoSIDA Academic All-America First-Team honors with a team-leading 3.86 cumulative GPA in mathematics, while also taking home First-Team Big Ten All-Conference accolades, as well as receiving her second-straight National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Region award. The Schaumburg, Ill., native led the Illini in batting average (.399), on base percentage (.483), runs (47), hits (71), doubles (18) and walks (29). She ranked fourth in the Big Ten and 26th in the nation with 18 doubles and was just a double shy of the all-time UI record. She also ranked in the top 15 in the Big Ten in eight offensive categories, including eighth in batting average and ninth in both hits and total bases.
Bauch was one of eight student-athletes from the Big Ten Conference that were named candidates, along with Maryland's Lindsey Schmeiser, Michigan's Kelsey Susalla, Nebraska's Kiki Stokes, Northwestern's Andrea Filler, Ohio State's Erika Leonard, Penn State's Lexi Knief and Rutgers' Jordan Whitley.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School ®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists later in the season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.
The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2016 Women's College World Series®.
For more information on all the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.
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