Story courtesy of Texas Lutheran University Sports Information

SEGUIN, Texas -- Texas Lutheran senior pitcher Amanda Lochte is headed back to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America ballot for softball after being named Thursday to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 First Team.

Lochte is an Academic All-District 8 First Team selection for a second consecutive year. She is one of two pitchers on the Academic All-District 8 First Team this year. Madison Perez of Whitworth, a senior from Fountain Valley, Calif., joined Lochte on the First Team.

Lochte, an exercise science major on a pre-physical therapy path, holds a cumulative grade point average of 3.97.

In her final collegiate softball season, Lochte has a 15-1 overall record with an ERA of 1.33. She has tossed four shutouts and combined on two other shutouts. She has struck out 68 and walked just 14. Opponents are hitting only .216 against her.

A Second Team All-Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference selection, Lochte went 9-0 in conference play with a 1.07 ERA. She helped TLU to a fourth consecutive SCAC Championship (regular-season and conference tourney titles) and to a fourth straight appearance in the NCAA Division III Softball Championship. The Bulldogs learn of their NCAA destination on Monday.

Lochte is a major reason why TLU is 37-4 overall and has won 37 consecutive games. The Bulldogs are ranked fifth in the latest NFCA poll for NCAA Division III.

The Academic All-District teams advancing to the national Academic All-America ballot are divided into eight geographic districts across the United States and Canada.

(Complete teams listed here.)

This is the sixth year of the expanded Academic All-America program as CoSIDA moved from recognizing a University Division (Division I) and a College Division (all non-Division I) and has doubled the number of scholar-athletes honored. The expanded teams include NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III participants, while the College Division Academic All-America Team combines NAIA, Canadian and two-year schools.

The Division II and III Academic All-America® programs are being financially supported by the NCAA Division II and III national governance structures to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2016-17 DII and DIII Academic All-America teams program.

First-team Academic All-District  honorees advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Team ballot, where first-, second- and third-team All-America® honorees will be selected later this month.  

For more information about the Academic All-District and Academic All-America Teams program, please visit www.cosida.com.