Strickland Named Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division II All-American

SALEM, Va. - Honored for the third time in her USC Aiken career, Jessica Strickland has been named to the 2009 Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division II All-American team it was announced today.

A third team selection this year, Strickland ends her career as a three-time All-American. She was named to the third team in 2007 before being recognized as a second team selection in 2008.

Strickland ends her illustrious career holding the record for home runs, RBI, total bases, hits and intentional walks. She also has the highest slugging percentage, on base percentage and fielding percentage in school history.

Strickland has a career batting average of .365, collecting 232 hits. She has hit 46 doubles, eight triples and 40 home runs for 151 RBIs.

This season, the North Charleston, S.C. native was named to the Peach Belt All-Conference and All-Tournament teams as well as to the NCAA Division II Softball Tournament All-Region team. Strickland was also NFCA/NCAA and Daktronics All-Region in 2009.

Strickland ended the season with a .393 batting average, the highest in her four seasons at USC Aiken. She hit 14 doubles, two triples and 12 home runs for 41 runs batted in and 40 runs scored. Strickland was also walked 28 times and struck out a team-low seven times in her 140 at bats.

The four-year backstop helped USC Aiken to the NCAA Regional Tournament for the first time in program history. The Pacers ended their historic season with a 34-16 overall record and an 11-7 Peach Belt Conference mark.

USCA finished third in the PBC in the regular season before falling to the No. 1 seed and regular season champ North Georgia in the championship game of the conference tournament.

Strickland's List of accomplishments in four seasons as a Pacer:
PBC All-Conference (all first team): 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
PBC All Tournament Team: 2007, 2009
PBC Player of the week: 3 times
PBC Player of the year: 2007
NCAA Regional All-Tournament Team: 2009
NFCA All-Region (all first team): 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
NFCA All-American: 2007 - 3rd team, 2008 - 2nd team, 2009 - 3rd team
Daktronics All-Region (all first team): 2007, 2008, 2009
Daktronics All-American: 2007 - 3rd team

Career Records:
Hits: 232 (first)
RBI: 151 (first)
Home Runs: 40 (first)
Total Bases: 414 (first)
Intentional Walks: 14 (first)
Slugging Percentage: .652 (first)
On-Base Percentage: .432 (first)
Fielding Percentage: .989 (first)
At Bats: 635 (second)
Runs Scored: 137 (second)
Doubles: 46 (second)
Caught Stealing by: 30 (second)
Walks: 68 (second)
Batting Average: .365 (third)
Runners picked off: 9 (third)
Fielding Percentage: .989 (eighth)