Hoying named OAC Player of the Year as Muskies garner eight All-OAC honors

NEW CONCORD, Ohio, May 6, 2006 - Following its ninth straight Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament championship, the Muskingum College softball team was honored by having sophomore catcher Kari Hoying named the Gayle Lauth OAC Player of the Year in addition to having eight players named All-Ohio Athletic Conference. [All-OAC Awards]

Against OAC opponents, Hoying batted a League-best .517 with 31 hits, 26 runs-batted in, eight
doubles, two triples and six home runs. Hoying had a 1.017 slugging percentage against OAC competition and recorded just one error in 18 games behind the plate. This is the fifth consecutive year that a Fighting Muskie has won the OAC MVP Award. Hoying joins senior Erica Hoyt (2004 & 2005) and former Muskie Mandy Carnes (2002-2003) to earn this award.

Hoying, Hoyt, senior second baseman Juli Johnston, junior All-American outfielder Kim Tackett were all named First Team All-OAC, while junior All-American first baseman Amy Iammarino, senior outfielder Lindsay Bramhall, freshman designated player Randi Dance and freshman pitcher Amy Mattin were all named Second Team All-OAC.

Hoyt has made the All-OAC First Team for the fourth straight year. In 11 OAC appearances, Hoyt picked up eight wins with 56 strikeouts. In four years for the Muskies, Hoyt was a two-time recipient of the Gayle Lauth OAC Player-of-the-Year and the John Wells OAC Pitcher-of-the-Year awards. Hoyt becomes just the seventh OAC player to earn First Team All-OAC honors for four straight seasons.

Johnston batted .333 with five RBI and a home run, Tackett hit .350 with 11 RBI and a home run and Iammarino batted .316 with nine RBI and a home run. Bramhall hit .414 with three doubles and 11 RBI, Dance batted .333 with 14 hits and a home run, while Mattin posted an 8-1 record with a 1.38 ERA and 46 strikeouts. Hoying, Johnston, Tackett and Iammarino were all named to the All-OAC first team in 2005, while Bramhall garnered second team honors.

The Player-of-the-Year award is named in honor Gayle Lauth, who was an administrator of women's sports at Ohio Northern for 32 years. The All-OAC Softball Team is selected by the League coaches and are based on OAC statistics.