Cougars sweep top WCC awards, nine on All-WCC teams

SAN BRUNO, Calif. – Following a fourth-straight West Coast Conference championship, No. 21 BYU softball received all of the top awards in addition to nine All-WCC players as announced by the conference on Tuesday.

Caitlyn Larsen Alldredge was named WCC Player of the Year, McKenna Bull is the WCC Pitcher of the Year for the third time in a row and Lauren Bell was awarded her second-consecutive WCC Defensive Player of the Year nod. For the first time since 2014, BYU won the WCC Freshman of the Year award, with Rylee Jensen sharing the honor with Pacific’s Hailey Reed. Finally, head coach Gordon Eakin and his coaching staff earned the WCC Coach of the Year award, his fifth-consecutive conference coach of the year honor over two different conferences and eighth of his career.

In addition to the top honors, four Cougars were named to the All-WCC First Team: Alldredge, Bull, Jensen and Alexa Strid. On the All-WCC Second Team, Briielle Breland, Libby Sugg and Ashley Thompson received nods. Bell and Lexi Tarrow were on the All-WCC Honorable Mention list.

Alldredge is the third-straight Cougar to be named WCC Player of the Year. She was named WCC Player of the Week three times this year as she hit .439 in conference games. Her .829 slugging percentage and 17 RBI in WCC play led the conference. At third base, she had a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in addition to her strong offense.

Bull finishes her WCC career as a three-time WCC Pitcher of the Year. Just this year, she was the pitcher of the week nine times, including the last three weeks. She allowed just one run in WCC play. During this season, she threw 57.2-straight scoreless innings. She totaled 61 strikeouts in conference play with a 0.13 ERA, both of which lead the WCC.

After moving to second base from shortstop, Bell maintained her reign as WCC Defensive Player of the Year. She had no errors in conference play, tallying 23 assists and 22 putouts. Along with her strong defense, she hit .302 in WCC play with 10 RBI and a team-high eight sacrifice hits.

Jensen was named WCC Freshman of the Year after hitting .452 over all 15 conference games, which leads the WCC. She led the team in runs in WCC play with 19 and in on-base percentage with .556, both of which are conference bests as well.

Head to the WCC’s website to see the entire release.

Honorable Mention:
Hannah Bandimere, Loyola Marymount; Lauren Bell, BYU; Alicia Brown, Loyola Marymount; Amanda Dirks, Loyola Marymount; Kailey Hill, San Diego; McCall James, Santa Clara; Eryn McCoy, Saint Mary's; Samantha Owen, Pacific; Sara Silveyra, San Diego; Lexi Tarrow, BYU; Katlyn Whitt, Saint Mary's