Four Named All-Big Ten Softball
May 09, 2003 | Softball
A school-record four Badgers earned Big Ten Conference softball postseason honors Thursday. The league's coaches named seniors Erin Barnharst and Andrea Kirchberg and sophomores Boo Gillette and Anastasia Miller to the 2003 All-Big Ten Third Team.
Barnharst, Gillette and Miller are first-time All-Big Ten honorees, while it is Kirchberg's third award. This year's All-Big Ten quartet tops UW's trio of 2000: Kirchberg, Jade Gosse and Kerry Hagen. Two Badgers earned All-Big Ten status in 1999, while Meghann Reiss was honored in 2001 and Kirchberg was tabbed again in 2002.
Barnharst, UW's Offensive Player of the Year, was twice named the Big Ten co-Player of the Week this season. She led the team with five home runs and finished the season strong, hitting .436 in the Badgers' final 13 games.
Gillette, UW's two-time Badger Pride Award winner, led the Badgers with a .296 batting average, 37 hits and three triples. She was second on the team with four home runs, with two of those blasts directly leading to extra-innings and Badger victories.
Kirchberg, who owns nearly every UW pitching record, broke the complete games and innings pitched records this season. She also topped her own single game strikeout record this year, tossing 17 Ks versus Ohio State. She struck out 278 batters in 2003, increasing her final career total to 1,156.
Miller, named UW's Most Inspirational Player this season, earned a starting role late in the season and recorded eight RBIs and three home runs in just 21 at-bats. She hit her first home run as a Badger in her first official at-bat, her second plate appearance ever. She finished the season with a .762 slugging percentage.
