HANNAH SCHWARZ EARNS FIRST TEAM ALL-REGION HONORS, CALEY JETER NAMED TO SECOND TEAM

A pair of new faces to the 2010 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi softball team were honored by the NFCA on Thursday morning when they were named to the 2010 Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I All-Region Teams. Hannah Schwarz was named First Team All-Central Region while Caley Jeter was named to the second team. In total, six players from the Southland Conference received honors with Schwarz being the only first team member.

For their efforts during the regular season, Schwarz was named the Southland Conference Newcomer of the Year while both Schwarz and Jeter were named First Team All-Southland. After both players transferred to the Islanders from Blinn Junior College, Schwarz and Jeter made an immediate impact on the field for the Islanders. They helped the team improve from 23-31 in 2009 to a 35-22 record in 2010. The team also qualified for the Southland Conference Tournament for the first time in school history following the 12-win improvement.

"I am extremely excited that we have two players on the all-region teams," said head coach Jake Schumann. "It speaks volumes of where we are going in recruiting and speaks ever more to the hard work and dedication both young ladies exercise during the year."

Schwarz finished the season with a .410 batting average, 26 points higher than Jeter who finished the year at .384 and second in the league. Schwarz was 27 points higher than Caitlyn Ivy of UTSA in the individual rankings. She was also second in the league with a .470 on-base percentage, finishing behind only Jeter in that category. She also led the team with 21 stolen bases, fifth-best in the league, while only being thrown out six times during the year and scoring a team-high 36 runs during the season. She also had the most hits in the league this season, notching 73 while just missing the single-season mark of 77 in one year.

Jeter was remarkable during the season, getting on base in over half of her plate appearances with a .526 on-base percentage, by far the highest in the league. She outpaced second-place Schwarz by 56 points while distancing herself from the first non-Islander by a 62 point margin. She was a perfect 13-for-13 in stolen bases during the year and third on the team with 32 runs scored. She also finished second in the Southland with a .384 batting average, second only to Schwarz. She played second base for the Islanders and was part of an infield that helped the team commit 21 fewer errors than a season ago.

With the first team honor, Schwarz will now be under consideration for All America honors from the NFCA. If selected for the All America team, she would join Sarah Pauly as the only Islanders in school history to receive such an honor.

"For Hannah, this means she will be nominated for All America, an honor I believe never achieved by a position player wearing an Islander uniform," said Schumann. "This accomplishment is not just recognition for two outstanding players but also a sign that people see our program as a contender."