Gillespie, Giles Earn Northeast Conference Softball Player and Pitcher of the Year Awards

5/10/07 -- Senior Randi Gillespie (San Jose, Calif.) was named the Northeast Conference Player of the Year for the second consecutive season, as announced at the league’s awards banquet on Thursday evening. It marks the first time a Blackbird has been honored twice as a Player of the Year and only the second time in NEC history (Crystal Ray of UMBC in 1999 and 2000).

Sophomore Jenny Giles (Melbourne, Fla.) took home her second consecutive Pitcher of the Year trophy, making her the first pitcher since Michelle Hudson of Marist in 1995-96 to win consecutive Pitcher of the Year titles.

Gillespie leads the NEC and ranks sixth nationally in batting average (.468). She also ranks in the top ten in nine different offensive categories in the NEC, including runs, hits, doubles, home runs and RBIs. Giles led the conference with 16 wins and had a 1.82 ERA in 33 appearances in the circle.

Gillespie and Giles were also named to the All-NEC first team, along with two other LIU players. Junior Vanessa Mejia (Roanoke, Va.) earns her second straight first-team nod after batting .308 with three home runs and 27 RBIs while also playing stellar defense at third base. Classmate Celina Castillo (Bay Area, Calif.) was named to an All-NEC team for the first time in her career at shortstop after setting career highs in batting average (.333), doubles (12) and RBIs (26).

Two other Blackbirds were named to the conference’s second team. Junior outfielder Brittany Murphy (Los Alamitos, Calif.) burst onto the scene this season with a .397 batting average in conference play. The California product hit .308 after making the switch to batting left-handed after the season’s first ten games. Freshman pitcher Blaire Porter (Redmond, Wash.) rounds out the LIU honorees after an impressive inaugural campaign which saw her go undefeated against NEC foes. Her 8-0 record in league play led the conference and the 154 strikeouts she has accumulated this season ranks her second on LIU’s all-time single season list.

Long Island finished the regular season with a 30-19 record and a 16-2 mark in NEC play. The Blackbirds will look to repeat as the NEC Tournament champions this weekend and earn the league’s automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. LIU will face Quinnipiac in the first game of the double-elimination tournament on Friday, May 11, at 10:00 a.m.