DALLAS – Conference USA released its 2019 softball all-conference and superlative awards Tuesday, as voted upon by the league’s 12 head coaches. The announcement comes one day before the start of the 2019 Air Force Reserve C-USA Softball Championship, hosted by UAB May 8-11 in Birmingham, Alabama.
 
C-USA Regular-Season Co-Champion Louisiana Tech garnered three of the five specialty honors. Senior outfielder Jazlyn Crowder became the second-consecutive Lady Techster to earn Player of the Year and teammate Lindsay Edwards was named the league’s Freshman of the Year. Seventh-year head coach Mark Montgomery split Co-Coach of the Year with North Texas newcomer Rodney DeLong. Southern Miss junior Abby Trahan was deemed Pitcher of the Year and Charlotte sophomore Katie Manring collected Newcomer of the Year.
 
All 12 C-USA teams were recognized at least once on the list of all-conference winners. Louisiana Tech topped all schools with seven selections, while North Texas and WKU each grabbed five. Marshall and Southern Miss hoisted four each.
 
Crowder, a senior outfielder for Louisiana Tech, bolstered the Lady Techster offense toward its first-ever regular-season title this season. The Kennedale, Texas, product serves as the league leader in RBI (50) and hits (65), and ranks second in runs (51) and total bases (103). With more than 20 multi-hit and 10 multi-RBI games on the season, Crowder has etched her name in the school’s record books as the second-ranking RBI producer. She has racked up nine game-winning RBI, five of those in C-USA action, heading into this week’s tournament.
 
Trahan, a junior transfer from Saint Francis, went-back-to-back as the 2018 NEC Pitcher of the Year before capturing the C-USA nod. The right-handed hurler commanded Southern Miss in the circle, helping the program reach the 30-win mark for the first time since 2016. Her 1.89 ERA is the best among all league pitchers and pairs with 14 wins and 17 complete games in 30 appearances. In more than 160 innings on the season, Trahan has delivered 129 strikeouts to 31 walks. Her total punch outs and 38 looking strikeouts both rank in C-USA’s top-five.
 
Manring made her presence known at Charlotte this year after spending her freshman campaign in a Campbell uniform. The sophomore transfer crafted a blistering team-best .345 batting average, falling just one home run shy of the program’s single-season record (14), which also marks the second-most in C-USA. The designated player led the 49ers with 44 RBI, 28 runs, a .683 slugging percentage and a 1.101 OPS. Aside from powering the Niner offense, Manring also polished off a perfect 4.0 GPA to claim C-USA All-Academic Team recognition.
 
Edwards has made a name for herself in her first season with the Lady Techster program. Her batting average (.373) currently leads all Techsters and would rank in the program’s top five all-time. Her 38 RBI are also second-most by a true freshman in school history with the watermark set at 41 in 2016. The infielder has positioned herself among the league’s top five in batting average, hits (60) and assists (117) in her inaugural year.
 
Montgomery has pushed Louisiana Tech to four-straight 30-plus win seasons and this year became no different as the Techsters eclipsed the 40-win mark for just the sixth time in program history. In light of a season ridden with injury and destruction to the team’s home field after a tornado hit weeks ago, the squad remained #RustonStrong and was able to capture a share of its first-ever regular-season title in the final game before the league tournament this past weekend. Montgomery & Co. are now on the hunt for another crown in the program’s third conference championship.

It was a historic season for the Mean Green, fueled by first-year head coach Rodney DeLong’s installment of a blue-collar work ethic and small ball fundamentals. DeLong took over in 2019 after a remarkable run at Austin Peay last season. The Governors seized a program-record 39 wins, snapping a 24-year streak of losing campaigns. The team’s 22-win improvement also stood as the largest NCAA DI turnaround that year. That success was carried over to the Mean Green program as the team hoisted its first-ever conference regular-season crown and broke the school record for single-season wins. North Texas will march into Birmingham as the No. 1 seed this week.
 
2019 Conference USA Specialty Awards
Player of the Year: Jazlyn Crowder, Louisiana Tech
Pitcher of the Year: Abby Trahan, Southern Miss
Newcomer of the Year: Katie Manring, Charlotte
Freshman of the Year: Lindsay Edwards, Louisiana Tech
Co-Coach of the Year: Mark Montgomery, Louisiana Tech
Co-Coach of the Year: Rodney DeLong, North Texas
 
All-Conference USA First Team
C – Bailey Vannoy, Charlotte
C – Kendall Smith, WKU
INF – Lindsay Edwards, Louisiana Tech
INF – Aly Harrell, Marshall
INF – Summer Burgess, Middle Tennessee
INF – Lacey Sumerlin, Southern Miss
INF – Kacey Duffield, UTEP
OF – Mya Stevenson, Marshall
OF – Morgan Turkoly, Louisiana Tech
OF – Jazlyn Crowder, Louisiana Tech
OF – Katie Clark, North Texas
OF – Destini Brown, Southern Miss
DP/Utility – Katie Manring, Charlotte
P – Krystal De La Cruz, Louisiana Tech
P – Hope Trautwein, North Texas
P – Abby Trahan, Southern Miss
 
All-Conference USA Second Team
C – Hayden Ellis, Marshall
C – Sierra Frazier, UAB
INF – Samantha Lageyre, Florida Atlantic
INF – Bayli Simon, Louisiana Tech
INF – Lexi Cushing, Middle Tennessee
INF – Harley Perella, North Texas
INF – Madison Washington, UTSA
OF – Fayth Davis, Florida Atlantic
OF – Karley Nichols, Southern Miss
OF – Jordan Vorbrink, WKU
OF – Shannon Plese, WKU
DP/Utility – Mia Olson, Florida Atlantic
P – Preslee Gallaway, Louisiana Tech
P – Abigail Tolbert, Marshall
P – Kelsey Aikey, WKU

Conference USA All-Freshman Team
Bailey Vannoy, Charlotte
Alexis Johns, FIU
Skylar Whitty, Florida Atlantic
Lindsay Edwards, Louisiana Tech
Mya Stevenson, Marshall
Corina Dodd, Middle Tennessee
Tayla Evans, North Texas
Faith Hegh, UAB
Kasey Flores, UTEP
Pate Cathey, UTEP
Kennedy Sullivan, WKU