Tag: Madison Garza

Valdez, Garza named NFCA, NAIA All-Americans

OLLU softball players Cassandra Valdez and Madison Garza have been selected to the 2024 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) NAIA All-America team, the association revealed on June 6. 

Valdez also was named to the First Team last year, while Garza, a third baseman, was named to the Second Team. Valdez was earlier named to the NAIA All-American First Team, and she received NAIA Pitcher of the Year honors. 

First-time national champion OLLU led a group of six schools with two All-America selections, which included fellow World Series participants Madonna University, Oregon Institute of Technology and the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma. Marian University of Indianapolis and Midland University also had two winners.

Valdez logged 56 games, including 36 appearances as a pitcher. She had 144 at-bats, 50 hits, nine doubles, and a team-leading 62 runs, four triples, 15 home runs, 45 RBIs, 46 walks, 30 stolen bases, and a slugging percentage of .778. She batted .347 and had an on-base percentage of .513. In the circle, Valdez recorded 30 wins, one loss and three saves in 24 complete games. Her ERA was .53.

Garza logged 56 games with 145 at-bats, 36 runs, 57 hits, 13 doubles, two triples, four runs, 33 RBIs, 13 walks, 10 stolen bases and a slugging percentage of .593. She batted .393 and had an on-base percentage of .470. She led the team in hit-by-pitch with nine and sacrifice hits with 12. Garza had 46 putouts, 40 assists and a fielding percentage of .977.

In The News

Recent media coverage that brought attention to OLLU:

On June 9, a story in the Laredo Morning Times about Alexander High School track star Nayeli Rodriguez-Arce committing to OLLU: 

https://www.lmtonline.com/sports/article/alexander-s-nayeli-rodriguez-arce-commits-lady-19503165.php

On June 4, a story on KSAT-12 about OLLU celebrating its first national championship in softball: 

https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2024/06/04/ollu-softball-celebrates-first-national-championship-win-in-school-history

On June 3, a story in The Facts about Madison Garza helping the OLLU softball team win a national championship: https://thefacts.com/sports/national-championship-fulfills-garza-s-dream/article_4abc045c-b739-59d6-8267-d0c7659e33a8.html

Softball clinches RRAC regular season title with sweep of TAMUSA

The OLLU softball team clinched the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) regular-season title with a sweep of Texas A&M University-San Antonio (AM-SA), 11-0 and 11-3. 

The Saints won both games in five innings, and increased their win streak to 41 from Feb. 9-April 20, 2024. They own the longest win streak of any university in any division (NCAA D1, D2, D3 and NAIA).

The Saints move to 45-1 overall and 22-0 in the Red River Athletic Conference. AM-SA drops to 24-17 overall and 10-13 in conference.

In between games, the team honored Madison Garza and Eneli Garza for their individual senior day. After the games, the Saints recognized all the seniors, adding Alyssa Flores, Kayla Dreese, Alana Benitez, Cassandra Valdez, Marissa Bradley and Natalie Rodriguez.

Softball sweeps TAMUT to extend winning streak to 37

The softball team swept Texas A&M University – Texarkana (TAMUT), 9-0 and 1-0, to extend its winning streak to 37 games. The Saints boast a longer winning streak than any university in any division (NCAA D1, D2, D3 and NAIA).

Cassandra Valdez threw a one-hit shutout to secure her 17th win in the opener. In the second game, Natalie Rodriguez drove in Madison Garza with an RBI single in the 8th inning for a 1-0 victory.

The Saints move to 41-1 overall and 18-0 in the Red River Athletic Conference. TAMUT drops to 18-16 overall and 11-9 in conference.

No. 1 softball extends winning streak to 31 after sweeping Xavier

Fueled by 20 hits, 19 runs and 16 RBIs, the NAIA’s No. 1 ranked OLLU softball team swept Xavier University of Louisiana, 9-0 and 10-2, on Saturday to extend its winning streak to 31 games. 

The Saints improve to 35-1 overall and 12-0 in the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC). The Gold Nuggets drop to 7-11 and 5-7 in the RRAC. Prior to the game, the team honored Marissa Bradley for her senior’s day.

In the opener, Madison Garza and Cassandra Valdez homered. Valdez also struck out 11 in five innings and won her 13th game of the season.

In the second game, Madison Garza and Ava Hernandez each drove in three runs and Valeria Vielma allowed four hits and secured the win.

Kinesiology student recognized as TACSM Major of the Year

Kinesiology major Madison Garza was recently recognized as the Texas American College of Sports Medicine (TACSM) Major of the Year at the TACSM Conference in Waco.

Garza and four other Kinesiology students – Natalie Esqueda, Adriana Guerrero, Dominique Boggs and Stephanie Tapia – participated in the conference on Feb. 22-23. 

The OLLU students were accompanied by Emily Sauers, PhD, Associate Professor of Kinesiology and Michael Maspero, MS, Instructor in Kinesiology. 

Five Saints receive NFCA-NAIA All-Region honors

The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) announced the 149 student-athletes from 68 schools who comprise the 2023 NFCA NAIA All-Region teams.

Oregon Institute of Technology in Region IV led all schools with six players chosen for its region’s list, with four earning first-team recognition. Four schools — NAIA World Series participants Central Methodist (Region V) and Georgia Gwinnett (Region I), Our Lady of the Lake University (Region II) and Texas A&M-Texarkana (Region I) — had five selections each.

OLLU’s honorees include:

Cassandra Valdez – First Team
Madison Nunn – First Team
Rebecca Duran – Second Team
Madison Garza – Second Team

Joanna Gonzalez – Second Team

Eight Saints softball players named to RRAC All-Conference Team

The Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) announced the 2023 RRAC Softball All-Conference Team and Player of the Year awards on May 4. Coaches determined the selections, with those on the first team being eligible for NAIA All-America consideration at the completion of the season.

2023 RRAC Softball All-Conference Team

The Saints ended the regular season with a 28-0 RRAC record and are now 43-4 overall with a 34-game winning streak. The Saints – the NAIA’s No. 2 team, Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) – won three of five top awards of the year and placed six on the all-conference first team and one on the second team.

The Saints’ Cassandra Valdez won RRAC Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year awards for the second year. Head Coach Bruce Lenington was selected as Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season.  

OLLU’s Valdez, Joanna Gonzalez, and Madison Nunn received first-team honors for the third straight year. Joining them on the first team are Rebecca Duran, Madison Garza, and Ariel Montgomery. Caitlin Terrazas repeated as a second-team selection. Angela Ramirez was her team’s Champions of Character winner.

The following are current, significant stats (top five) for all the honorees:

RRAC Player of the Year and RRAC Pitcher of the Year – Cassandra Valdez: She dominated the circle with 21 wins and 291 strikeouts – both conference-bests. She was also third in the conference in ERA (1.53). As a hitter, Valdez batted .398 (fifth in the conference) with a conference-best 13 home runs and conference second-best 39 RBIs. Her other stats include first in runs (38), first in slugging percentage (.864), fourth in hits (47), fifth in batting average (.398)

RRAC Coach of the Year – Bruce Lenington: In his fourth year at OLLU, Lenington guided the Saints to a 43-4 mark for the season so far. OLLU leads the conference with 327 runs, 93 doubles, 64 home runs, 302 RBIs, 148 walks, .426 on-base percentage and .609 slugging percentage. The Saints are also first in strikeouts with 291. They are second in hits with 385, triples with 28, and batting average at .334. The Saints are second in innings pitched with 279.2 and in ERA at 1.70. Finally, the Saints are first in overall fielding percentage at .970.

Rebecca Duran – first in runs (38), fifth in hits (45), fourth in doubles (13)

Madison Nunn – first in RBIs (40), second in home runs (10), second in slugging percentage (.792), fifth in runs (35), first in fielding percentage (1.000)

Madison Garza – third in slugging percentage (.675), fourth in doubles (14)

Caitlin Terrazas – first in hit-by-pitch (19), third in home runs (8)

Joanna Gonzalez – fourth in putouts (207)

Ariel Montgomery – fourth in home runs (7), fourth in RBIs (35)

Angela Ramirez – 16-0 record

Dr. Sauers, students published study in international journal

Dr. Emily Sauers, Associate Professor of Kinesiology, and undergraduate students Madison Garza and Jennifer Estrada had a study published in the International Journal of Exercise Science Conference Proceedings.

The study is titled, “The Effects of Acute Fasting on Anaerobic Performance in NAIA Softball Players. The abstract can be viewed online.