May 17, 2016
2016 MW Softball All-Conferenc
San Jose, Calif. - By a vote of the conference's nine head coaches, a record-tying five members of the San José State softball team, Brittany Abacherli, Jessie Hufstetler, Jessica Madrid, Taylor Purdy and Madison Aurin, have been named 2016 All-Mountain West Conference performers. The announcement came from the conference office in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Abacherli, Hufstetler and Madrid are first-team selections. Purdy and Aurin earned second-team honors. The all-conference teams are chosen based on statistics from the 24-game conference schedule in which the Spartans finished in second place with a 17-7 record.
Abacherli, a sophomore and in her first year as a starter, had a breakout season. In league action, she was second in stolen bases (10-for-10), third in runs (34) and walks (15). Her eight doubles and 61 total bases ranked fourth. She was fifth in triples (2) and sixth in hits (6). This is Abacherli first All-Mountain West postseason honor.
After transferring to SJSU prior to the 2015 season, Madrid, a senior, earns her second first-team selection in as many years. In Mountain West play she led the league in hits (40) and ranked second in batting with a gaudy .488 average. In addition, she was second in on-base percentage (.553), third in total plate appearances (96) and at bats (82), fourth in runs (31), fifth in walks (12).
An all-conference honoree each of her three years in the Mountain West, Hufstetler led all players in league action in RBI (42), doubles (9), triples (4), total bases (84) and being hit by pitches (11). Her batting average (.468) was second in the league as was her 1.063 slugging percentage, 10 homers, 36 runs and 37 hits.
Senior Taylor Purdy's .405 batting average was the ninth highest in league action and she ranked fourth in doubles (8) and eighth in total bases (56). This is the first All-Mountain West honor of Purdy's career.
Freshman Madison Aurin became the team's everyday first basemen in at the start of league play. She finished conference action fourth in both home runs (9) and RBIs (32). She was ninth in slugging percentage (.797) and topped the MW in sacrifice flies (4). Defensively Aurin was eighth in both chances (125) and putouts (121).
The Spartans' five All-Mountain West selections equals a record set last season. In 2014, the program's first year in the conference, it garnered three postseason selections.