NIIC Announces Softball All-Conference

AURORA, Ill. May 12, 2005 - The Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference announced the 2005 softball All-Conference team. Aurora University’s women’s softball team, conference champions and tournament champions, placed five players on the Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference (NIIC) All-Conference team.

Senior first baseman/pitcher Taylor Petersen (Aurora, Ill./West Aurora HS), senior shortstop Beth Nyhlen (Aurora, Ill./College of DuPage), junior catcher/designated hitter Melissa Rousse (Bloomingdale, Ill./Lake Park HS), junior catcher/designated hitter Kristin Cumbo (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South HS), and freshman third baseman Dana Cebular (Brookfield, Ill./Riverside-Brookfield HS) were named First-Team All-Conference by the NIIC women’s softball coaches.

In conference action, Petersen was 11-0 with a 0.10 earned run average, seven shutouts, 10 complete games, one save, and 123 strikeouts in 70-1/3 innings pitched. At the plate, Petersen hit .438 with six doubles, two home runs, 16 runs scored, and six runs batted in. Nyhlen hit .333 with four doubles and six runs scored; Rousse hit .340 with four doubles, one triple, and eight runs batted in. Cumbo hit .442 with six doubles, two home runs, and 15 runs batted in, while Cebular led AU in conference hitting with a .460 average with three doubles, one triple, and 11 runs scored.

AU’s softball team is currently 38-4-1 on the season, (a school record for wins) and finished 14-1 in the NIIC, while capturing their second consecutive Conference Championship and the tournament championship, which carried the NIIC automatic bid into the 2005 NCAA Division III softball championships, AU’s first NCAA softball tournament appearance since 1995.

The AU softball team is in action in the NCAA tournament on Friday, May 13, 2005 in Alma Michigan. The Spartans are the No 1 seed in the five team regional and will take on the winner of the game between No 4 seed Edgewood College and No 5 seed Allegheny College. Game time for AU is set for 2:30 p.m. EST, in Alma, Michigan.

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