Story courtesy of Texas Lutheran University
AUSTIN, Texas – Senior pitcher Amanda Lochte of Texas Lutheran University headlines the 2017 Academic All-America® Division III Softball Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
An exercise science (pre-physical therapy) major with a 3.97 grade-point average, Lochte was selected as the winner of the CoSIDA Division III Academic All-America® of the Year award for softball.
Lochte is the first Bulldog to claim the top national academic honor for a CoSIDA Academic All-America® sport category.
Lochte is the 34th Academic All-America® selection in school history and the third Bulldog honoree this 2016-17 academic year. She joins football player Tyler Howlett and women's basketball player Kristen Lye.
The CoSIDA Division III Academic All-America® program is financially supported by the NCAA Division III national governance structure to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2016-17 Division III Academic All-America® teams program.
A CoSIDA Academic All-America® second-team selection in 2016, Lochte is one of 11 individuals who have earned multiple CoSIDA Academic All-America® honors among the 34 student-athletes selected to this year's three teams.
Twenty of the 34 members of the CoSIDA Academic All-America® softball teams have a 3.90 or better G.P.A., with six achieving a perfect 4.00 G.P.A. The 11 members of the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division III softball first team maintain an average G.P.A of 3.89.
Lochte earned CoSIDA Academic All-America® first-team honors this season, after being named to the second team last year. She earned National Fastpitch Coaches' Association (NFCA) All-West Region honors this spring after posting a 15-2 record with two saves and a 1.39 ERA in 105.2 innings from the circle.
Lochte ended her career with a 38-4 record and a program-best .905 winning percentage. She went 9-0 in conference play with a 1.07 ERA, and she had a win and a save in the SCAC Championship Tournament. She tossed a five-hit, complete-game shutout in the Bulldogs' title-clinching win over Southwestern.
A native of Fredericksburg, Texas, Lochte collected 73 strikeouts to 14 walks and allowed a .220 opponent batting average. She will attend the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas in the doctor of physical therapy program.
TLU won the SCAC title, both regular-season and tournament championships, for the fourth straight season and finished with a 38-6 record, which included a school-record 38-game win streak. The Bulldogs made their fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA Division III Softball Championship and finished as the regional runner-up for a third time in four seasons.
Lochte has remained engaged in a variety of activities and projects outside of athletics, including internship opportunities with Hill Country Memorial Hospital in Fredericksburg, Texas; Mills and Associates Physical Therapy in Fredericksburg; Knopp Nursing Home and Assisted Living Center in Fredericksburg; Fredericksburg Physical Therapy and Guadalupe Regional Medical Center in Seguin, Texas.
