BATON ROUGE — LSU pitcher Britni Sneed took the top honor of Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and head coach Yvette Girouard was named the SEC Coach of the Year, as announced by the league office on Wednesday.
Five Tigers in all were named to the All- SEC team. Sneed and Stephanie Hastings were the only two unanimous selections, taking first-team honors. Christy Connor, Dee Douglas and Trena Peel received second-team honors.
“Britni was very deserving of this award,” said head coach Yvette Girouard. “We certainly felt that she was the Player of the Year. She was undefeated in the SEC. Stephanie, Dee, Trena and Christy were also very deserving of these honors. They all had great seasons in conference play. I am sure they all feel, however, that this was a team effort.”
Sneed is now a three-time First-Team All-SEC pitcher. She finished the season with a perfect record of 18-0 in SEC play, 12 of which were shutouts. Her conference ERA was a low 0.23 in 123.2 innings of work. She allowed only 35 hits, five runs and four earned runs. Sneed registered 168 strikeouts and only issued 21 walks.
Hastings is also a three-time first-team All-SEC selection in the infield. She has led the team from the plate, hitting .473 in league play. She has 44 hits, nine doubles, three triples and four home runs in the conference.
Douglas is a two-time All-SEC team member. She dominated the base paths with 31 stolen bases in just 37 attempts.
Peel returned to her freshman form and was rewarded with her second appointment to the All-SEC team. She was second on the team in batting, hitting .398 in SEC play. She had nine homeruns overall and four in the SEC.
LSU newcomer Connor also made a name for herself in the SEC, being named Second-Team All-SEC at first base. She was third on the team, hitting .325 in the SEC with two home runs.
Girouard, in her first year at LSU, has continued the success of the Tigers, winning the SEC Championship for the third straight year. She is a two-time national coach of the year and has made 10 NCAA Regional and three World Series appearances.
The top-seeded Tigers will face Auburn on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the SEC Tournament at the Jim Frost Softball Stadium in Chattanooga, Tenn.
2001 SEC Softball Awards
First Team All-SEC
P – Shelley Laird, Alabama
P – Britni Sneed, LSU*
C – Lyndsey Angus, Kentucky
INF – Ginger Jones, Alabama
INF – Suzanne Olcott, Alabama
INF -Mary Petrie, Auburn
INF – Stephanie Hastings, LSU*
DP/UTL – Jennifer Kraemer, Auburn
OF – Kelly Kretschman, Alabama
OF – Jackie McClain, Alabama
OF – Kellie Wilkerson, Mississippi State
OF – Ashley Moore, Auburn
Second Team All-SEC
P – Megan Matthews, South Carolina
P – Heather Schlictman, Arkansas
C – Lacy Prejean, Alabama
C- Adrienne Genovese, South Carolina
INF – Ashley Boone, Florida
INF – Jackie Marchetta, Florida
INF – Nikki Jones, Kentucky
INF – Christy Connor, LSU
DP/UTL – Emily Marino, Florida
OF – Nicole Barber, Georgia
OF – Trena Peel, LSU
OF – Iyhia McMichael, Mississippi State
OF – Dee Douglas, LSU
Athlete of the Year
Britni Sneed, LSU
Coach of the Year
Yvette Girouard, LSU
Freshman of the Year
Jackie McClain, Alabama
* Unanimous