Springfield, Ohio – Wittenberg University senior softball pitcher Rachel Ross (Westerville, Ohio/South) has been recognized for the combination of her athletic and academic accomplishments with first-team Capital One Academic All-America College Division All-District 7 honors.
The honor is the second for Ross in her collegiate career. She also claimed the first-team academic all-district in 2012. Both years, Ross was selected as a result of online voting conducted recently by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Student-athletes who make the first-team in district voting are considered for Academic All-America awards.
A mathematics major and business minor, Ross carries a 3.92 grade point average while participating in a wide variety of extracurricular activities at Wittenberg. She has worked as an orientation assistant in the Office of Student Development, as a tour guide in the Office of Admission, and as a student assistant in the Office of Human Resources. In addition, Ross is active in the Alpha Delta Pi sorority, Athletes for Christ, Peer Mentors, Peer Helpers, the Math Club and the Panhellenic Council.
On the field, Ross has done it all, twice earning All-North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) honors while splitting her time between the pitcher’s circle and several positions in the field. In 2013, she led the team and ranked among the league’s best in every pitching statistic while posting the second-highest win total for a pitcher in program history (17).
She has been named the team’s Most Outstanding Player twice in her first three collegiate seasons, and she is credited with the first perfect game in program history in 2011 and a no-hitter in 2013. Ross has built on those credentials in 2014, breaking the school record for career pitching victories and innings pitched. Through May 1, she had posted a 16-6 record with a 1.88 earned run average while also contributing a .356 batting average with 18 runs scored and 22 runs batted in.
In recognition of Ross’ performance on the field, her leadership on the team and in the campus community, her sportsmanship and selfless attitude, and her tremendous academic achievements, she was one of 36 semifinalists for the 10th annual Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup in January 2014. Presented by Athletes for a Better World, the Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup is named for the famed UCLA men’s basketball coach who championed character, conduct and selfless gifts as integral parts of the sporting experience.
The Tigers open the NCAC Tournament, hosted by DePauw, against Denison at 10 a.m. Friday, May 2. Wittenberg, which is seeded second after finishing as the runner-up in the NCAC regular season title chase, enter the competition with records of 21-9 overall and 11-5 in the NCAC.
Written By: Ryan Maurer