The honors continue to come in for University of St. Francis softball player Ashley Galason (Burbank, Ill./Reavis), who was recently named to the Google Cloud Academic All-America College Division Softball Second Team.
That comes on top of earlier recognition as both a first-team Google Cloud Academic All-District and all-Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference selection, a NAIA Scholar-Athlete and most recently as a NAIA Honorable Mention All-America choice.
Galason, who graduated this past May with magna cum laude honors, earning a bachelor’s degree in finance, saved her best for last with career-high numbers in eight offensive categories.
The most significant increases came in batting average and slugging percentage as well as her RBI and double totals.
Galason finished with a .750 slugging percentage, or 316 points higher than her previous top mark, courtesy of doubling her previous best in two-base hits from 8 to 16.
She also hit .450 (previous-best .331) with 45 runs batted in, topping her 31 during her sophomore campaign.
Galason also collected 54 hits, including six home runs, and came around to score 37 times.
On a national level, Galason ranked among the top 21 players in three categories, placing 20th in runs batted in per game (1.13) and 21st in both doubles per game (0.40) and slugging percentage (.750).
Galason appeared in all 188 of the Saints’ games over her four-year career, starting all but one contest.
During that time, she totaled 191 hits and 109 runs batted in and authored a .341 batting average.
The Google Cloud Academic All-America Teams, selected by the College Sports Information Directors Association (CoSIDA), honor the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performance on the field and in the classroom.
Galason was joined by For the second year in a row, the University of outfielder Paige Egan (Chicago, Ill./Marist) as NAIA All-America Team honorable mention recipients.
Egan, a junior outfielder, ranked among the top 25 players in the nation in no fewer than five categories topped by her No. 3 billing in hits per game with 1.8 per contest.
She also finished sixth in total triples (8), seventh in triples per game (0.2), 15th in batting average (.486) and 25th in total bases per game (2.38).
In total hits, she ranked 44th with 72.
A starter in all 40 games for the Saints this season, Egan closed out the year riding a 21-game hitting streak and hit safely in 38 of 40 games overall.
She also produced 22 multi-hit contests and led the team in stolen bases with eight.
Besides the NAIA All-America honor, Egan was also a first-team all-Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference selection, where she led the league in hitting.
Galason also ranked among the nation’s best players, earning Top 25 billings in three statistical areas and another three among the top 50.
Her top spot came in runs batted in per game (1.13), where she ranked 20th.
She was 21st in both doubles per game (0.40) and slugging percentage (.750).
Other high rankings included her .450 batting average (No. 34), 2.25 total bases per game (No. 36) and 16 total doubles (No. 50).
Like Egan, Galason started all 40 of the Saints’ contests this past spring en route to setting career highs in nearly every offensive statistical category.
The senior infielder also produced 18 multi-hit games.
Galason also appeared on the list of first-team all-conference selections and was a first-team CoSIDA Google Cloud Academic All-District selection.
USF went 29-11 overall this past spring, including 17-5 in conference play to finish second in the league.