Lancers softball sends nine to All-Conference Team

Graduate student shortstop Lauren Taylor, senior left fielder Lauren Fox and sophomore first baseman Sophia Knock led a group of a league-high nine Longwood softball players named to the 2024 All-Big South Conference Team, the school announced Wednesday.

Taylor, Fox and Knock landed on the first team, while graduate student third baseman Korynna Anderson, senior right fielder Kayley DeVivi, junior center fielder Emily Vinson and sophomore right-handed pitcher Maggie Chapinearned second-team plaudits. Catcher Maggie Hiatt and left-handed pitcher Cierra Gawryluk were All-Freshman Team selections. Anderson was the Lancers’ representative on the Big South All-Academic Team.

Taylor has started all 49 games, batting .271 with 39 hits, two doubles, six home runs and 16 RBIs. She is tied for sixth in the Big South in home runs, while also being tied for ninth in the Big South in at-bats in league games at 56. Taylor, a Mechanicsville native, is tied for second in the conference in home runs in league games with four. She boasts 10 multi-hit games and two multi-RBI games this season. Additionally, Taylor, who was Co-Big South Player of the Week April 29, ranks 43rd among active players in Division I with 233 career games played.

The year-end honor is the second of Taylor’s career, as she was named to the All-Big South Second Team in 2023.

Fox is second in the league in batting average at .344 (53-for-154) and tied for fourth in the conference with two triples. Fox has collected at least one hit in 33 of 48 games played this season. An Ashburn native, Fox has a team-leading 13 multiple-hit games.

It is the third All-Big South honor of Fox’s career, earning an all-freshman nod in 2021 and second-team recognition in 2023.

MORE OF THE ALL–CONFERENCE PLAYERS

Knock, in the midst of a breakout second season for the Lancers, leads the Big South in home runs (10), is second in slugging percentage (.576), second in OPS (1.010), tied for fourth in RBIs (29), tied for fifth in walks (22) and tied for seventh in batting average (.326).

Knock, who named Big South Player of the Week Feb. 27 following a three-homer, six-RBI game against Northern Iowa, is second in the conference in batting average in league games (.413), second in on-base percentage (.541), tied for second in walks (12), fourth in OPS (1.128), tied for sixth in hits (19) and tied for ninth in RBIs (12). A Liberty, Ind., product, Knock has 10 multi-hit games and eight multi-RBI games on the season.

Anderson has started all 49 games at third base and is hitting .274 with a team-best 10 doubles. She has 20 RBIs with 16 coming in league games, the second best total in the Big South. A Los Alamitos, Calif., native, Anderson is seventh in batting average in league games (.357), seventh in slugging percentage (.589) and ninth in OPS (.972). She has eight multi-hit games and five multi-RBI games on the year. An MBA student with a 4.0 GPA, Anderson is part of the Big South All-Academic Team for a second consecutive season. Her second-team honor is the second of her career, as well, also earning it in 2023.

DeVivi, who is hitting .273 in 47 games, is tied for third in the Big South in home runs (eight), is fifth in slugging (.517), tied for seventh in RBIs (28) and tied for eighth in doubles (nine). A Danville native, DeVivi, earned Big South Player of the Week on April 1 after hitting .889 for the week to tie for the national lead in the category. Additionally, her three RBIs per game for the week also tied for tops in Division I. DeVivI finished second in the NCAA for the week in on-base percentage (.900) and third in slugging percentage (1.778).

The All-Big South Second Team honor is the second of her career, having also earned it in 2022.

Hitting .263 in all 49 games this season, Vinson has eight multi-hit games and six multi-RBI games. She finished 10th in the Big South with a .340 batting average in league games, posting two triples and two homers with 22 RBI on the year. Vinson has turned four double plays with five assists and a .969 fielding percentage in 127 chances in the outfield.

Chapin, a two-time Big South Pitcher of the Week on March 18 and April 1, leads the Big South in wins (14) and shutouts (six). She is second in the league in innings pitched (157 2/3), seventh in strikeouts (102) and eighth in batting average against (.245).

In league games, the Shawnee, Kan., native has limited the opposition to a .202 batting average and pitched to a 2.69 ERA in 65 innings. Her six shutouts rank 19th in the country.

Hiatt has hit .250 on the season in 38 games played, primarily behind the plate. She has 21 hits, five doubles, five homers and 22 RBIs. A Henrico native, Hiatt is a two-time Big South Freshman of the Week on March 4 and April 15. She belted home runs in consecutive at-bats in a win against Winthrop on April 14. She has six multi-RBI games and four multi-hit games.

Defensively, Hiatt has posted a .980 fielding with just two errors in 100 chances and has thrown out nine baserunners, a mark that is 99th in the NCAA.

Gawryluk, a Suffolk native, is a two-time Big South Freshman of the Week on April 22 and 29. She boasts a 2.90 ERA in league games this season, has won three times in conference play and saved two games — tied for second in the league.

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