Big South Announces 2024 Softball Annual Award Winners
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – Radford sophomore outfielder
Lexie Roberts (Mebane, N.C.) and Charleston Southern freshman
Nealy Lamb (Cades, S.C.) have been voted Big South Softball Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year, respectively, by the league’s head coaches, it was announced this afternoon. Lamb was also selected Freshman of the Year, Winthrop’s
Megan Powell (Eden, N.C.) earned Newcomer of the Year honors, and USC Upstate head coach
Chris Hawkins was voted Big South Coach of the Year. CSU’s
Annah Junge (Ballwin, Mo.) was voted Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the third consecutive year by the Big South’s sports information directors.
Roberts is the first Highlander to be voted Big South Player of the Year since 2012. She finished the regular-season as the Big South’s leading hitter with a .413 average from her lead-off spot -- the league’s lone player batting at least .400 this year. Roberts is also the league leader in on-base percentage (.436), runs scored (38), hits (62) and triples (5). The Big South Player of the Week for games played April 1-7, Roberts was second in the conference with 29 stolen bases, which ranks 15th in the nation. She posted 20 multiple-hit games in 2024, including two games with four, and had a 12-game hitting streak from Feb. 16-March 3 where she batted .462. In conference games, Roberts reached base in 13 of 18 appearances and was the leading hitter with a .475 clip (28-59). She was also the league leader with 16 runs and three triples, and produced a .593 slugging percentage, .515 OBA and 13 steals against Big South foes. Roberts collected four first-place votes and 14 points in the Player of the Year voting and finished ahead of Longwood’s
Sophia Knock (one first-place vote and nine points) and USC Upstate’s
Denver Lauer (eight points) for the league’s top honor.
Lamb is the first player in Big South history to be voted Pitcher of the Year and Freshman of the Year in the same season. She is also Charleston Southern’s first-ever Pitcher of the Year honoree, and just the second Buc to be voted Freshman of the Year. Lamb completed the regular-season with a 12-8 record in the circle with a conference-best 1.58 earned run average. She also completed 10 of her 15 starts with five shutouts, held the opposition to a league-low .173 batting average, and fanned 124 batters in 133.0 innings pitched. Lamb, who earned two Freshman of the Week plaudits and one Pitcher of the Week nod in 2024, permitted the fewest hits per game (4.26) and had the second-most strikeouts. In Big South action, Lamb was 6-3 with a 0.87 ERA -- the lone hurler under 1.00. She also had four shutouts, 63 strikeouts and limited Big South hitters to a .156 batting average in her 64.2 innings. Lamb received four first-place votes and 14 points in the Pitcher of the Year voting, ahead of Upstate’s
Sierra Maness (nine points), and Winthrop’s
Reese Basinger (one first-place vote and eight points). In Freshman of the Year balloting, Lamb also received four first-place votes and 14 points, with Maness second with 11 points and one first-place nod.
Powell is the first Big South Softball Newcomer of the Year, which recognizes the top non-freshman transfer playing in the Big South for the first time. A dual threat as a pitcher and hitter, Powell recorded a save in the final game of the regular-season to help clinch the final spot in this week’s Big South Championship Tournament. She started 14 times in the circle and posted 104 strikeouts in 113.1 innings with eight wins, a 3.21 ERA and two shutouts. At the plate, Powell tied for the team-lead with five home runs (tied for 8th in Big South). She was second on the squad during conference play with a .346 average and 14 RBI in 17 games played, and batted .471 with RISP against league foes. Powell ranked 7th in the Big South in ERA, 3rd in opposing batting average, 6th in strikeouts and 8th in wins. She also was second in the Big South in strikeouts per appearance (6.54). In eight games vs. the league’s top four, she led the team with a .409 average and had two home runs and seven RBI. In Newcomer of the Year voting, Powell received four first-place votes and 14 points, ahead of USC Upstate’s
Abigail Pippen (two first-place votes and 11 points).
Hawkins earns his second Big South Coach of the Year award in three seasons after leading the Spartans to the program’s first outright Big South regular-season championship. Upstate will be the No. 1 seed in this week’s Softball Championship for the second time, as the squad finished the 2024 league season with a 13-5 mark and is 27-20 overall. Hawkins’s squad is the Big South leader with 151 stolen bases -- third-most in a single-season in Big South history, and is tops with 5.02 runs scored per game, 3.21 steals per game, a 2.88 earned run average, fewest hits allowed (284) and fewest walks allowed (2.10). In the 18-game conference season, the Spartans batted .296 with league-highs of 98 runs scored, 86 RBI and 51 stolen bases, while the pitching staff was tops with a 2.10 ERA. Hawkins collected six first-place votes and 18 points in the voting, ahead of Longwood head coach
Dr. Megan Brown (10 points) and Charleston Southern’s
Christi Musser (one first-place vote and six points).
Junge is the second, three-time Big South Softball Scholar-Athlete of the Year recipient. The graduate pitcher is a 4.0 student working on her master’s in biology. Junge finished the regular-season with a 3.64 earned run average in 25 appearances (21 starts) with three shutouts and 81 strikeouts in 111.2 innings.
The conference also announced the 2024 All-Conference, All-Freshman and All-Academic teams, which are listed below. The All-Conference and All-Freshman teams are voted on by the head coaches, while the All-Academic Team consists of one student-athlete from each institution that meets the criteria and is nominated and selected by the league’s sports information directors.
2024 BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE SOFTBALL AWARD WINNERS
First-Team All-Conference
OF Lexie Roberts, Soph., Radford
OF Denver Lauer, Jr., USC Upstate
OF Lauren Fox, Sr., Longwood
1B Sophia Knock, Soph., Longwood
2B KaDedra Temple, Gr., Winthrop
SS Lauren Taylor, Gr., Longwood
3B Celeste Delorenzo, Sr., USC Upstate
C Gracie Prince, Jr., Charleston Southern
P Nealy Lamb, Fr., Charleston Southern
P Reese Basinger, Jr., Winthrop
DP Andrea Lyon, Gr., Gardner-Webb
UTL Megan Powell, Jr., Winthrop
Second-Team All-Conference
OF Emily Vinson, Jr., Longwood
OF Kayley DeVivi, Sr., Longwood
OF Adrienne Visintine, Gr., Gardner-Webb
1B Kari Shedrick, Jr., Radford
2B Madelyne Lee, Soph., Charleston Southern
SS Alanna Deal, Jr., USC Upstate
3B Korynna Anderson, Gr., Longwood
C Abby Wilson, Gr., Radford
P Sierra Maness, Fr., USC Upstate
P Maggie Chapin, Soph., Longwood
DP Carsten Sandvig, Fr., Charleston Southern
UTL Kasey Wolfe, Fr., Presbyterian
Honorable Mention All-Conference
BriAnna Brooks, OF, R-Soph., Charleston Southern
Rachel Smith, SS, Jr., Radford
Peyton Rivas, OF, R-Sr., Winthrop
Annicka McLaughlin, 2B, Soph., Gardner-Webb
Abigail Pippen, C, Soph., USC Upstate
All-Freshman Team
Nealy Lamb, P, Charleston Southern
Sierra Maness, P, USC Upstate
Abby Polk, 2B, USC Upstate
Kasey Wolfe, UTL, Presbyterian
Carsten Sandvig, DP, Charleston Southern
Maggie Hiatt, C, Longwood
Cierra Gawryluk, P, Longwood
All-Academic Team
Annah Junge, P, Gr., Charleston Southern
Andrea Lyon, P/OF, Gr., Gardner-Webb
Korynna Anderson, 3B, Gr., Longwood
Kaitlyn Tucker, 2B, Sr., Presbyterian College
Lexie Roberts, OF, Soph., Radford
Cassie Norris, 1B, Sr., USC Upstate
Reese Basinger, P, Jr., Winthrop
Player of the Year
Lexie Roberts, OF, Soph., Radford
Pitcher of the Year
Nealy Lamb, Fr., Charleston Southern
Newcomer of the Year
Megan Powell, UTL, Jr., Winthrop
Freshman of the Year
Nealy Lamb, Fr., Charleston Southern
Coach of the Year
Chris Hawkins, USC Upstate
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Annah Junge, P, Gr., Charleston Southern