May 7, 2008

LEWISBURG, Pa. - One day after landing a league-most six players on the All-Patriot League teams, the Bucknell softball program earned two more individual honors Wednesday when freshman Lauren Fry (South Plainfield, N.J./South Plainfield) was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Year and fourth-year mentor Heather Rakosik copped Coach of the Year honors.

Fry, who is Bucknell's first Rookie of the Year winner since the award was instituted in 2002, put together an outstanding rookie campaign. She was one of two Bison freshmen (Elyse Colmenero) to be named First Team All-Patriot League on Tuesday. The last Bucknell freshman to earn that honor was Jenna Demetriades in 1999.

Fry hit .343 with two home runs and 30 runs batted in during the regular season. The 30 RBIs are the most by a Bucknell freshman since Demetriades drove in 31 nearly a decade ago. Fry rank second on the Bison in batting average as well as RBIs.

A left-handed hitter, Fry predominantly hit in the top third of the lineup and pounded out 46 hits and scored a team-best 32 runs during the regular season. She posted a team-best 13 multiple-hit games and accumulated seven multiple-RBI outings. She had 10 RBIs over the season's final five games, and 13 over the final eight.

Fry's 10 doubles this season put her atop the team in that category, along with Colmenero. That figure is tied for 10th on Bucknell's single-season list.

One of four Bison to start all 20 Patriot League contests, Fry hit .380 with one home run and 18 RBIs against conference competition.

A strong leftfielder, Fry committed just one error in the final 48 games of the season. Overall, she had a fielding percentage of .959 to rank second among Bucknell's regular starting outfielders.

Patriot League Coach of the Year Heather Rakosik instructs junior Kristin Frick during a game earlier this year.

Rakosik, who is in her fourth year at the helm of the Bison and guided them to the seventh 20-win season in program history, became the third different Bucknell head coach to earn Patriot League Coach of the Year plaudits. She follows Terrie Grieb, who was Coach of the Year three times (1994, 1996, 1999), and Janelle Breneman, who earned the trophy in 2004.

After missing out on the Patriot League Tournament each of the last two years, Rakosik guided the Bison to a 13-7 Patriot League record and a No. 3 seed in the upcoming postseason tournament. The 13 wins are the most in conference play in program history and Bucknell actually tied for second place in the final regular-season standings. It marks the first time the Bison have finished higher than fourth since 1999 when they were part of a four-way tie for first place.

Bucknell, which ended the regular season on a six-game winning streak, has won 22 games this season, the fourth-most in program history, and the most since it went 27-8 in 1993. Since March 22 the Bison have posted a solid 17-14 record.

In addition to the much-improved won-loss record, Rakosik has guided her squad to team records for home runs (21), runs scored (238) and runs batted in (199). The Bison also had six players named to the All-Patriot League teams earlier this week, marking the most for the program since 1998, while the four first-team selections were the most since 1993.

Rakosik will help the Bison in their quest for their first Patriot League Tournament title since 1997 when they begin the postseason Thursday at 4 p.m. against No. 2 Lafayette. The double-elimination tournament will run through Saturday in Bethlehem, Pa., on Lehigh's Kaufman Field.