NSU Sharks News
Softball's Talenfeld Named All-SSC First Team, Three on Second-Team
Donachie, Bergner, Lopez all Second-Team selections
Orlando, Fla. (May 7, 2009) - Nova Southeastern University softball placed four players on the All-Sunshine State Conference teams, it was announced by the conference on Thursday. Rachel Talenfeld (So., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) was a First-Team selection, while April Donachie (Sr., Orlando, Fla.), Dana Bergner (Jr., Palm Harbor, Fla.) and Lauren Lopez (Jr., Miami, Fla.) were all Second-Team honorees. Voting for the All-Conference teams were done by the SSC's head coaches and SIDs. It is the first time Talenfeld has received All-SSC honors. A 2008 Daktronics Second-Team All-South Region selection a year ago, Talenfeld was one of three outfielders to receive All-SSC First-Team status. She started in all 24 conference games, batting .390 with 30 hits in 77 at-bats. On the season, she is hitting .324 with 58 hits. Talenfeld leads the team with 17 sacrifice hits, which ranks second in the SSC.
Donachie received All-SSC Second-Team honors for first base. She had a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in the Sharks' 24 SSC games, committing no errors in 157 chances. Donachie also had 146 putouts. Offensively during SSC play, Donachie hit .304 with 21 hits and had 17 RBI. For the season, Donachie has a .325 clip and carried a .997 fielding percentage with only one error made in 365 chances. She leads the team and the conference with 34 walks. Addtionally, she is tied for third in the SSC in triples with six.
Bergner collected Second-Team All-Conference honors for second base. Bergner started in 21 SSC games and played in 23, hitting .304. Two of her four sacrifice flies came in conference play. For the season, Bergner is batting .313 with 45 hits and 33 RBI. Additionally, she is one of two players in the SSC with four sacrifice flies, which ranks third in the conference.
Lopez, who received Second-Team All-SSC honors at shortstop, has been stellar all season long in her debut season with the Sharks. She leads the team in batting average (.489), runs scored (56), hits (93), doubles (14), triples (8), home runs (7), RBI (60), total bases (144), slugging percentage (.758), on-base percentage (.510), stolen bases (22) and stolen base attempts (24). Her batting average is also tops in the conference and is 10th nationally. She also is the SSC's leader in hits and is tied for stolen bases and stolen base attempts. She was a two-time SSC Player of the Week selection during the 2009 season. In SSC games, she was .462 from the plate with 36 hits and 20 RBI. Lopez had four doubles, three triples and four home runs and scored 21 runs in the Sharks' 24 conference games.
NSU reached its first-ever NCAA postseason this year. The Sharks will play in the NCAA South Regional Championships at Valdosta State May 8-10. The sixth-seeded Sharks open regional play against third-seeded and No. 22 nationally-ranked Florida Southern on Friday at 4 p.m. The winner of the NSU-Florida Southern game will face the winner of the Valdosta State-Tampa game on Saturday at 1:30 p.m, while the losers will meet in an elimination game on Saturday at 4 p.m.
