Rogers and Budz Lead Four Stars With Post Season NAC Softball Honors

Stars sluggers garner First Team All-NAC honors

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Sarah Budz garnered First Team All-NAC and All-Freshman Team honors from the Northern Athletics Conference.

Sarah Budz garnered First Team All-NAC and All-Freshman Team honors from the Northern Athletics Conference.

May 5, 2009

River Forest, IL - Junior Carolyn Rogers (Moline, IL) and freshman Sarah Budz (Orland Park, IL) were named to the 2009 Northern Athletics Conference (NAC) Softball All-Conference First Team, leading four players from Dominican University to garner postseason honors from the conference in softball. Joining Rogers and Budz were Abbey Bullerdick (New Market, IN) and Jori Cicale (Steger, IL) who were named to the All-Conference 2nd Team and All-Conference Honorable Mention respectively.

Rogers was Dominican's leading hitter on the season, posting a .479 batting average on the season with an .857 slugging percentage. She blasted a team-high nine home runs and 16 doubles. She ranked in the top three in the conference in most offensive statistical categories including, batting average, slugging percentage, runs scored, runs batted in, hits, doubles, home runs, on-base percentage and total bases.

Budz was the only player to start all 44 games for the Stars during the season. She rapped out 52 hits in 126 at-bats for a .413 batting average. She tallied a team-best 50 runs batted in throughout the season, ranking second in the conference. In the field, the Stars' freshman third baseman led the team with 88 assists.

Cicale and Bullerdick comprised the Stars battery for 24 of the Stars' 44 games this season. Cicale, a pitcher, posted a 2.86 earned run average with 120 strikeouts, both single-season records for Dominican University. The freshman right-hander also posted a 16-7 record in the circle with 14 complete games and four shutouts. In addition to her honorable mention for the All-NAC Team, Cicale landed on the NAC All-Freshman Team.

Bullerdick hit fourth in the Stars' lineup between Rogers and Budz and protected the Stars' sluggers with a .353 batting average and .590 slugging percentage as she belted 17 extra-base hits with nine doubles and eight home runs. The Stars' sophomore catcher ranked third on the team with 34 runs batted in and scored 27 runs.

As a team, the Stars posted a program-best 30-14 record overall, going 16-8 in the NAC for a fourth place finish during the regular season and earning a spot in the NAC Softball Tournament for the first time in the program's history.