LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Region accolades have been announced and a pair of Saint Joseph's College players have been honored.
Senior first baseman Olivia Howe (Arundel, Maine) and senior pitcher Meredith Pence (Remington, Va.) have been listed on the NFCA NCAA DIII Region I Second Team, as announced by the organization on Friday, May 19th.
The first player in SJC softball history to be selected as the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Player of the Year, Howe hit .463 (56-121) with 22 runs, 11 doubles, two triples, three home runs, and 25 RBI while starting all 39 of the Monks' games this spring. She capped her senior season ranked second in the conference in slugging percentage (.661), third in batting average and OBP (.507), and fourth in hits (56) and total bases (80).
Her 2023 batting average ranks as the fourth highest in program history while her .507 OBP is tied for ninth all time at Saint Joseph's.
For her career, Howe hit .415 (122-294) with 54 runs, 25 doubles, three triples, four home runs, and 56 RBI in two full seasons and a pair of pandemic-shortened campaigns (99 games). She is currently ranked fourth in program history in career batting average and OBP (.481) and fifth in slugging percentage (.561).
A 2023 First Team All-GNAC selection, Pence led the conference in ERA (1.57) and shutouts (3) while ranking third in strikeouts (101), fourth in strikeouts per game (6.61) and opponent's batting average (.206), fifth in wins (12), and sixth in complete games (12).
In 53 career appearances – including 43 starts – Pence notched a 26-15 record with a 2.30 ERA while striking out 255 batters and yielding 232 hits in 277.1 innings. She is currently ranked second in team history in strikeouts per game (6.44), fourth in opponent's batting average (.225), and fifth in strikeouts.
Led by 26th-year Head Coach Jamie Smyth '92, the 2023 Monks posted a 21-18 overall record with an 8-2 mark in GNAC play en route to claiming the #2 seed in the North Division for the GNAC Tournament. Saint Joseph's opened the tourney with a 3-1 victory over #3N Emmanuel College on Thursday, May 4th before suffering losses to eventual GNAC Champion #1N Simmons University and #2N Lasell University.
