Saluki Softball posts 3.616 team GPA in Fall 2014
12/23/2014 | 12:00:00 | Softball
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois softball program posted a 6.616 GPA in the Fall 2014 semester. The team GPA was the second-highest among all SIU programs, and six of the 17 players on the roster earned a perfect 4.0 GPA. All 17 players on the roster earned at least a 3.2 GPA for the semester.
Savannah Fisher, Kelsey Gonzalez, Kalyn Harker, Merri Anne Patterson, Brook Womack and Alyssa Wunderlich all earned perfect 4.0 GPAs during the Fall 2014 semester. Harker and Wunderlich, both seniors, each maintained cumulative GPAs of a perfect 4.0. Every player in the program maintained a cumulative GPA of at least 3.1.
The Southern Illinois softball program maintains a tradition as one of the most well-rounded programs in the nation. Of 293 Division I programs, Southern Illinois has ranked among the top 20 in team GPA in 13 of the last 14 seasons, including a 12th place finish for the 2013-14 academic year. SIU has finished second in the nation twice in that span (2007, 11) and in the top six nine times (2001-04, 2007, 08, 2011-13).
Also in that span, SIU has won 500 games (an average of 36 per season) and three Missouri Valley Conference titles while advancing to five NCAA Tournaments. Since the NCAA began publicly recognizing programs for being in the top 10 percent of their sport academically, Saluki Softball has been recognized six times and is the only MVC softball program that has earned the honor.
SIU opens the season on Feb. 6 when it plays Ohio State in Charleston, S.C., to open the Charleston Southern Tournament.
