2015 NFCA Division I All-American Teams
FULLERTON, Calif. - Cal State Fullerton junior third baseman Missy Taukeiaho was named to the 2015 NFCA Division I All-America Third Team, the Association announced on Wednesday. Taukeiaho becomes Cal State Fullerton's first two-time All-American since 2003, while being the 29th Titan to be named to an NFCA All-America Team and the 39th selection overall.
"Missy is beyond deserving of this national recognition," said head softball coach Kelly Ford. "I am truly honored to coach her as she has once again produced another special season. Missy continues to make a tremendous impact on Cal State Fullerton softball and her yearn to improve on a daily basis translates into her being one of the most fierce competitors in the country. Our entire coaching staff is extremely proud of her."
In all 55 players from 28 different institutions were selected to one of three 2015 NFCA Division I All-American teams. The Association is in its second year implementing a change in the NFCA's Division I awards process as three all-region teams, instead of the traditional two, were selected in each of 10 different regions.
Taukeiaho accompanies Gina Oaks (2002-03) in an elite group of seven Titans who have garnered All-American status at least twice. Heading into her final season in 2016, Taukeiaho will have the opportunity to join Sue Lewis (1981-82, 1984) and Jenny Topping (2001-03) as the only Titans in program history to be a three-time honoree.
The native from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., helped guide Cal State Fullerton to a 34-22 overall record and combined with 33 wins in 2014, this marks the first back-to-back 30-win seasons for the Titans since 2006-07. Fullerton also finished with the second-best RPI (52) in the Big West Conference slightly behind league champion CSUN (48).
Recently capturing the second consecutive selection on the NFCA All-West Region First-Team, Taukeiaho completed another impressive campaign, turning in a .390 average to propel the Titans to its highest single-season team batting average (.312) in program history. She added 10 doubles, 12 home runs and 41 RBIs. Although she missed 10 games, Taukeiaho still managed to lead the team in slugging percentage (.728) and on-base percentage (.488) while recording nearly three times the number of walks (27) to strikeouts (10).
Taukeiaho also clinched her second consecutive nod on the All-Big West Conference First-Team, torching NCAA Tournament teams with a .467 clip including a pair of multi-homer games, 12 runs, 14 RBIs and 13 walks. Over those 17 games, she slugged at 1.000 with eight home runs and posted a .593 on-base percentage.
Sitting at 31 home runs in just two seasons at Cal State Fullerton, Taukeiaho is fourth in program history for most career home runs. She will enter her senior campaign on the heels of Ashley Van Boxmeer (2005-07) with 32 and Jenny Topping (2001-03) with 33 long balls in third and second place, respectively. Another 16 round-trippers would tie Yasmin Mossadeghi's (1999-02) 47 homers for the program record.
The three conferences that are represented at this year's Women's College World Series had an impressive 39 of the 55 total selections, including 13 student-athletes on the first team. In all, the Southeastern Conference led the way with 19, while the Pac-12 Conference racked up 13 nods and the Big Ten Conference came in with seven selections. Out of those 39 student-athletes, 28 or 51 percent of the All-Americans will be stepping on the field at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium tomorrow.
Michigan and LSU each led the country with five total selections to the prestigious squads, while Alabama and UCLA garnered four each. Five programs- Florida, Oregon, Auburn, Oklahoma and Arizona- had three All-American selections. Georgia, Louisiana-Lafayette and James Madison rounded out the schools that picked up multiple selections with two apiece. Taukeiaho was the only student-athlete selected from the Big West Conference while giving the league an All-American honoree for the fourth year in a row and the 15th occasion in the last 17 seasons.
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