Already the most decorated softball player in Murray State history, senior Jessica Twaddle added another award to her storied career Wednesday when she was named as a National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-American. Now the first All-American in Racer softball history, she earned her way on to the third team via an at-large selection.
Twaddle is now the 130th Murray State student-athlete to earn All-America honors across all sports and is only the second NFCA All-American in OVC history, as Tennessee Tech’s Stephanie Fischer was a second-team honoree in 2008.
The Franklin, Tennessee native put together one of the most complete seasons ever by a Racer in 2017 and led the team with a .390 batting average, 46 RBIs, 13 doubles, 14 home runs, 25 walks, a .744 slugging percentage and a .470 on-base percentage. In addition, she also added 67 hits, 46 runs, three triples, 11 stolen bases and only struck out six times in 172 at bats.
For her efforts during the season, the first baseman was an adidas® OVC Player of the Week and she ended the year by becoming the first player in league history to be named as a two-time OVC Player of the Year, having earned the award previously in 2015. The three-team All-OVC honoree was also named to the first team this season and when paired with her All-Newcomer honor from 2014, she became the first player in program history to earn postseason OVC accolades in each of her four years.
Earlier this month, Twaddle was named as a first-team Academic All-American by CoSIDA, making her just the sixth two-time winner in Murray State history in all sports. She was also named as the 2017 recipient of the OVC’s Steve Hamilton Sportsmanship award and was one of six OVC student-athletes to be named as a 2016-2017 OVC Scholar-Athlete, the highest honor bestowed on a student-athlete by the OVC.
Twaddle ended her career at Murray State as the all-time leader in batting average at .374, hits at 234, RBIs at 143, and double plays turned at 84. She was also part of the winningest class in the history of Murray State softball with 130 wins in four years.
