Indianapolis, Indiana – Youngstown State senior Casey Crozier was named the Horizon League Softball Pitcher of the Year, sophomore Miranda Castiglione earned Co-Player-of-the-Year honors and freshman Sarah Dowd was selected the league's Freshman of the Year after a vote of the league's head coaches, the Horizon League announced on Wednesday (May 7).
Crozier and Castiglione were All-Horizon League First-Team selections, while Dowd and seniors Courtney Ewing and Sarah Ingalls were named to the All-Horizon League Second-Team.
Crozier, a 2013 All-Horizon League Second-Team selection, led the Horizon League in wins (18), strikeouts (186), batters struck out looking (64), innings pitched (175.0) and games started (28). She also ranked second in earned-run average (2.32).
A native of Valparaiso, Indiana, Crozier set the Youngstown State career and single-season strikeout records with 555 and 186, respectively. Her 18 victories are the second-most in a single-season. She is the first Youngtown State player to earn pitcher-of-the-year accolades since Kelly Murphy in 2003.
Castiglione led the Horizon League with a league-best .407 batting average, 68 hits, 43 runs scored and 109 total bases. She also ranked second with a .457 on-base percentage, a .653 slugging percentage and tied for second with 10 home runs.
She is the second Youngstown State player in three seasons to earn player-of-the-year honors. Haley Thomas won the award in 2012. Castiglione just set the YSU single-game RBIs record with seven and tied the single-game home run mark with three against Detroit on May 4.
Dowd, who was named to the All-Freshman Team, batted .286 overall with seven home runs, six doubles, 27 RBIs with a .493 slugging percentage. She batted .288 with four home runs against league foes. Dowd is the first YSU player to earn Freshman-of-the-Year honors. Liz Holt was named Necomer of the Year back in 2003.
Ewing batted .327 overall but posted a .368 batting average in Horizon League play. She owned a team-high 18-game hitting streak earlier this season and has hit safely in 35 of the last 38 games of the year.
Ingalls ended the regular season batting .296 with seven home runs, six doubles and 31 runs batted in. On a six-game hitting streak, Ingalls went 10-for-21 at the plate during that span.
The Penguins take on No. 5 Cleveland State in the first round of the Horizon League Championships today at 1:30 p.m. at the Wright State Softball Field.
