Bull and Thompson receive NFCA Pacific Region honors

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The National Fastpitch Coaches Association has announced that juniors McKenna Bull and Ashley Thompson have received 2016 NFCA Division I All-Pacific Region Second Team accolades.

Bull and Thomspon are the first BYU softball players to earn second team honors since 2012 when Tori Almond and Stacey Toney received the accolade. JC Clayton and Delaney Willard were on the first team in 2012 as well.

As voted on by coaches from each respective region, 385 student athletes from 157 programs have received 2016 NFCA Division I All-Region accolades. The awards honor softball student athletes from the Association’s 10 regions with first, second team and selections.

In her junior season, Bull led the team from the circle, pitching 252.1 innings with a 2.36 ERA. She was named the West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Year for the second-straight season. She is currently in seventh in the nation for strikeouts with 276 and is tied for fifth in shutouts with 10. Throughout the season, Bull has broken multiple BYU pitching season and career records. She is now the career leader in saves and shutouts, while also snatching the top spot in season strikeouts and shutouts. This year, she has thrown a no-hitter twice and has nine games with double-digit strikeouts.

First baseman Thompson was just named the WCC Player of the Year on Tuesday. She leads the team in batting average (.408), runs (43), hits (64), doubles (12) and stolen bases (12). Additionally, she is second in RBI (49) and home runs (13). Her best stretch of the season came against Saint Mary’s when she went 7 for 7 in the two games. She had three home runs and seven RBIs in the doubleheader. She also had a 30-game on-base streak this year, which is the second-longest streak in BYU history.

The Cougars face the No. 15 Missouri Tigers Thursday in the NCAA Columbia Regional at 7 p.m. CDT. The game can be viewed on ESPN2 and WatchESPN. Live stats are available on the BYU softball schedule page.