May 14, 2015

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina junior outfielder Alaynie Page earn placement on the 2015 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Southeast Region First Team, the organization announced today.

Page made the All-SEC First Team as well, as she’s hitting .446 on the season. She’s in the top six in the SEC in rate stats like batting average, on-base percentage (.551) and slugging percentage (.826), and she’s also in the top 10 in counting stats like runs (T-6th, 58), hits (2nd, 82), triples (4th, 7), total bases (1st, 152) and walks (T-10th, 35). In 57 games, she’s reached base safely in 54 of them.

Nationally, Page ranks in the top 40 in batting average (28th), on-base percentage (19th) and slugging percentage (37th), tying for eighth in NCAA Division I with seven triples on the year.

She’s already set new Gamecock single-season records in home runs (15), home runs per game (0.26), total bases (152) and slugging percentage. Also, Page holds top-five placements in batting average (3rd), on-base percentage (1st), runs (4th), runs per game (3rd), hits per game (3rd), RBI (5th), RBI per game (5th), walks (3rd), walks per game (2nd) and hit by pitches (T-5th) entering the Tallahassee Regional.

Page is the first Gamecock since Jill Semento in 2009 to earn first-team all-region accolades, and she’s the first outfielder since Kim Pietro in 1999 to take the honors. She’s the fifth all-region selection under fifth-year head coach Beverly Smith and the first to gain first-team all-region accolades. She moves onto the national ballot, with the results of that being released on May 27.

South Carolina faces No. 13/14 UCF in the opening game of the Tallahassee Regional on Friday at 4:30 p.m. EDT. All the games from the Seminole Softball Complex at JoAnne Graf Field will be on the digital platform ESPN3.

National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Southeast Region Teams

First Team
P – Lacey Waldrop, Florida State
P – Aleshia Ocasio, Florida
C – Annie Aldrete, Tennessee
1B – Jade Rhodes, Auburn
2B – Emily Carosone, Auburn
3B – Kasey Cooper, Auburn
SS – Kristen Brown, North Carolina
OF – Alaynie Page, South Carolina
OF – Tiffany Howard, Auburn
OF – Kirsti Merritt, Florida
U/P – Lauren Haeger, Florida
DP/U/Non-P – Courtni Emanuel, Georgia

Second Team
P – Chelsea Wilkinson, Georgia
P – Lexi Shubert, USC Upstate
C – Megan Baltzell, Longwood
1B – Kelsea Roth, Missouri
2B – Kelsey Stewart, Florida
3B – Jessica Warren, Florida State
SS – Renada Davis, NC State
OF – Emily Crane, Missouri
OF – Shellie Robinson, USC Upstate
OF – Branndi Melero, Auburn
U/P – Rainey Gaffin, Tennessee
DP/U/Non-P – Tina Iosefa, Georgia

Third Team
P – Emily Weiman, NC State
P – Kelsey Nunley, Kentucky
P – Elizabeth McCarthy, Longwood
P – Sabrina Angualano, Bethune Cookman
C – Griffin Joiner, Kentucky
1B – Jenna Kelly, North Carolina
2B – Alex Hugo, Georgia
3B – Anna Swafford, Georgia
SS – Paige Wilson, Georgia
OF – Sydni Emanuel, Georgia
OF – Morgan Estell, Auburn
OF – Morgan Klaevemann, Florida State
U/P – Maryssa Becker, Louisville
DP/U/Non-P – Lauren Walker, North Carolina