May 11, 2005
Gainesville, Fla. – Three South Carolina Gamecocks received SEC Postseason honors Wednesday evening at the SEC Tournament banquet on the University of Florida campus in. Senior Meghan Cornett was named second team All-SEC, outfielder Jessica Josker was named to the All-Freshman team and junior Ashley Smith was named SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year for the second consecutive year.
This marks the first All-SEC team honor for Cornett and the 15th All-SEC honor for the program. The senior first baseman led USC in hitting in conference games with a .346 average and also ranks among the top 10 in fielding. For her community service efforts, Cornett was also named to the SEC Good Works team for the second year in a row. The Cocoa, Fla. native is USC’s all-time career fielding percentage leader and ranks third among USC’s all-time home run leaders with 18. Earlier in the season, Cornett was one of two Gamecocks named SEC Player of the Week.
Josker became the first Gamecock to earn All-Freshman honors as she was named the only outfielder to the freshman team. Josker currently leads the Garnet and Black in overall games with .371 and she is the team leader with 70 hits, ranking third all-time among Gamecock freshmen. Josker’s 70 hits are the most in a single season by a USC player since 1999 when All-American Kim Pietro recorded 83. A native of San Jacinto, Calif., Josker was one of two freshmen to rank among the conferences top 10 hitters this season and was one of two Gamecocks to earn SEC Player of the Week honors this season.
For the second year in a row, Smith was name SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year. The Portage, Mich. native has a 4.0 in civil engineering and is the starting catcher for the Gamecocks. With a .302 SEC batting average, the junior leads the team in RBI in conference games and is third in hits. Smith has also started 24 of the 26 SEC games she played in this year.
SEC Tournament play begins Thursday with USC taking on Auburn at 11 a.m. at the UF Softball Complex. The tournament will conclude Sunday with the championship game at 2 p.m. (ET).
