May 27, 2015
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — University of Notre Dame 2015 graduate Emilee Koerner (Tustin, California/Foothill) put the final stamp on her collegiate softball career on Wednesday, receiving National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division I All-America honors for the third time in four seasons. Koerner was selected as an outfielder for the NFCA All-America third team for the second straight year, to go along with a second team NFCA All-America scroll she earned as a sophomore in 2013.
Koerner’s selection was the 26th overall NFCA All-America citation earned by a Notre Dame softball student-athlete in the program’s 27-year history. The Irish have had six different student-athletes, Koerner (2013 second team, 2014-15 third team), Karley Wester (2014 second team), Micaela Arizmendi (2014 second team), Amy Buntin (2012 second team), Heather Johnson (2011 third team) and Dani Miller (2011 third team), earn eight combined All-America scrolls over the past five seasons. Prior to 2011, Notre Dame players had claimed NFCA All-America honors 18 total times during the previous 17 years.
Koerner is the only player in Notre Dame softball history to achieve All-America status in not only three consecutive seasons, but in three different campaigns at any point during an Irish career. The Notre Dame legend now heads the list of seven multi-time Irish All-Americans all-time, joining Megan Ciolli (2004 and 2005, third team), Terri Kobata (1994 third team, 1995 second team), Andrea Loman (2002 and 2003, third team), Katie Marten (1995 and 1996, third team), Jarrah Myers (2001 and 2002, third team) and Jennifer Sharron (2000 second team, 2001 third team).
Koerner also claimed NFCA all-region first team recognition for the third straight year, finishing third in overall batting average among all players in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) for the second consecutive season after posting a .410 clip in 2015. She tied teammate Arizmendi for the conference lead with 18 doubles, and had the second-most hits in the conference behind only Wester (84) with 73. Koerner added the third-highest run total (55), the fourth-most RBI (career-high 57) and total bases (123), and the seventh-highest slugging percentage (.691) among all ACC hitters as a senior.
Koerner chipped in a .367 average (29-for-79) with runners in scoring position, and added 12 two-out RBI to help power the Notre Dame attack that set single-season program records for runs scored (395), hits (543) and RBI (345). She reached base safely in each of the team’s final 22 games, and was safely aboard in 49 of 57 games overall. Koerner hit a stellar .528 with 11 doubles, six home runs, 36 RBI and 35 runs scored during the 22-game on-base streak to close her college career.
Selected as the 2015 ACC Player of the Year by the conference coaching membership, Koerner led all ACC players with a .493 average, 35 hits and 28 runs scored in 23 league games in 2015. She added the third-most total bases (60) and doubles (8), and the fourth-highest slugging percentage (.845), on-base percentage (.537) and fourth-most RBI (26) in ACC play. She was the 14th conference player of the year selection, and 11th different player overall to receive the distinction, in Notre Dame softball history, as well as the only sitting Irish All-American at the time of voting to receive a conference’s top yearly player honor. Sharron was named BIG EAST Conference Pitcher of the Year for the fourth straight time in 2001, following her NFCA All-America second team selection in 2000.
An all-time .404 hitter, finishing her career as the only four-year Notre Dame player to ever bat at or above a cumulative .400 clip, Koerner posted a program-best 196 runs, 471 total bases, 79 doubles and a .694 slugging percentage in 223 games from 2012-15. She is the only Irish player to bat .400 or better in three straight seasons, along with the only player to have at least 70 hits, at least 18 doubles and score more than 50 runs in three consecutive years. Koerner also remained errorless in the Notre Dame outfield over her final three seasons, completing more than 240 straight chances in the field without an error.
Koerner tied Princeton’s Mandy Pfeiffer (1994-97) for third place all-time in NCAA history with 79 career doubles, and her NCAA-high 28 doubles in 2014 remain the second-most ever by a Division I player in a single season. Koerner also finished second in RBI (178) and third in hits (274) in the all-time Notre Dame record book.
One of four 2015 NFCA All-Americans to be drafted by the USSSA Florida Pride of the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) league on April 1, Koerner officially signed her first professional contract on Tuesday. She and former Notre Dame teammate Laura Winter (’14, Akron Racers) will each represent the Irish as members of NPF clubs this summer.
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