2009 MIAC SOFTBALL AWARDS

MINNEAPOLIS -- Augsburg College's Tiffany Magnuson (SR, Green Bay, Wis./Notre Dame Academy HS) was named to the All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference softball team for the fourth straight year, as the conference's softball awards were announced on Wednesday.

Augsburg's Cassie Crego (FY, Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North HS) was named to the All-MIAC Honorable Mention squad, while Sarah Mueller (SR, Green Bay, Wis./Green Bay Southwest HS) was named to the All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team.

Magnuson is one of two Class of 2009 seniors to earn All-MIAC first-team honors in softball each of their four seasons (Gustavus' Rachael Click is the other). In addition, Magnuson also earned All-MIAC first-team honors all four seasons as a member of Augsburg's women's hockey team.

An infielder and pitcher, Magnuson led the Auggies with a .397 batting average in 2009, with team-highs in runs (32), hits (46), doubles (6), triples (5), stolen bases (17 in 18 attempts), slugging percentage (.534) and on-base percentage (.486). She also had 16 RBI and 20 walks. Defensively, Magnuson led the team with a .974 fielding percentage, with just five errors in 190 chances. She also pitched in relief in eight games this season, with seven strikeouts in 7.1 innings of work.

In MIAC league games-only, Magnuson hit .433, good for 14th-best among conference regulars (players with 14 or more conference games played). She also led the conference with a perfect fielding season in league play, with no errors in 130 chances -- the most of any league player with a perfect fielding percentage.

Magnuson finished her career (156 games, 151 starts) with school records for hits (178) and triples (16), while ranking second in stolen bases (59 in 69 attempts), second in total bases (242), third in runs scored (106), fourth in batting average (.384), fourth in walks (57), fifth in slugging percentage (.522) and eighth in doubles (23).

In her first season of collegiate softball as an outfielder, Crego hit .321 (26-of-81), with 20 runs scored and three RBI, to go along with 14 stolen bases in 16 attempts. In conference games-only, Crego hit .429, good for 15th-best among conference regulars. Her 18 runs scored in conference play were tied for eighth-most among league players, and she went 9-for-9 in stolen base attempts, the fifth-most stolen bases in league play.

Mueller was named to the All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team, a part of the conference's sportsmanship initiative. Members of the All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team are selected by their coaches and teammates as individuals who demonstrate ideals of positive sportsmanship both on and off the field of competition.

An outfielder, Mueller hit .237 this season (23-of-97), with eight runs scored, a triple and 14 stolen bases in 15 attempts, in her first full season as a starting centerfielder, after battling injuries that limited her playing time earlier in her career.

In her career, Mueller finished with a .271 batting average, with 36 runs scored, two doubles, one triple, 14 RBI and 26 stolen bases in 31 attempts -- the 10th-most stolen bases in school history.

Augsburg finished 12-28 overall, 10-12 in MIAC play in 2009, the third season under head coach Tim Gormley. After a 2-22 start to the season, Augsburg rallied with a 10-6 finish, including conference sweeps of Concordia-Moorhead, Macalester and St. Olaf. Augsburg also split with St. Mary's in an April 16 doubleheader, the win snapping a 29-game, 15-season losing streak to the Cardinals, dating to the 1994 season.