NEW ORLEANS – Senior Amye Barre and junior Rochelle Roberts became the first ULM softball tandem to be named All-Conference First Team selections since 2002, as announced Tuesday night by the Sun Belt Conference.
“I am super excited for both [Roberts] and [Barre],” ULM head softball coach Corey Lyon said. “I think both are very well-deserved. For us, as a program, to be able to get two kids on the first team – I think that speaks a lot about the direction that this program is headed.”
Barre, a senior first baseman from Luling, Louisiana, leads the Warhawks with 10 home runs and 36 RBIs. The righty raised her batting average by 84 points from last season up to .327. She posted three hits and four RBIs twice, including a three-hit, four-RBI performance against Appalachian State. Barre also has seven doubles which is second-most behind Roberts' 10.
Barre has been plunked a record-most 43 times during her ULM career and has been hit by pitch an SBC-most 22 times this season.
“I am really glad for [Barre] just in the fact that she's done everything that we have ever asked her to do. She's been as unselfish a teammate as you could ever ask for. I really think she has had the perfect senior season. She really found a way to enjoy the small successes.
Roberts' .483 batting average ranks atop the SBC, sixth among Division I student-athletes and marks the highest single-season batting average in ULM history. One of the toughest outs in college softball, she is tied for second in the SBC with a .530 on-base percentage and one of three SBC student-athletes with five triples.
A three-time All-Sun Belt First Team honoree, Roberts is the first ULM softball player to record 70-plus hits in a season since Brenda Dawson achieved the feat in 1992. Roberts fell five hits short of tying Dawson's record (76) and Dawson recorded 201 plate appearances compared to Roberts' 147.
“When you talk about a kid that's up for player of the year and finished (sixth) in the country in batting average – and to be able to showcase not just speed, but also power and defense – It's funny for people to think your left fielder is one of the anchors of your defense but for the way that we play our defense, she really is one of the anchors on our defense,” Lyon said. “I'm excited for her because I know she worked really hard in the fall to put herself in this position to be able to be considered one of the best in the conference.”
Despite missing the last nine games due to injury, the speedster still ranks second in the SBC with 33 stolen bases. She has stolen 0.72 bases per game, the 17th–highest rate in the country.
She recorded two home runs and five RBIs, both career highs, in ULM's 14-10 victory over Northern Kentucky on Feb. 19. Adding to her highlights this season, she notched 22 multiple-hit games including two four-hit performances. Roberts also boasted a team-best .397 average during SBC play.
“Obviously I'm super impressed about all of the things she was able to do on the field this year, but I'm if not more impressed by the way that she's handled herself in the wake of this injury. She's the loudest one in the dugout cheering on her teammates, comes to practice every day, helps the young outfielders and helped Sydney McKay. [Roberts] has walked [McKay] through and taken her under her wing in learning to play left field. She's helped Hunter [Hogan] and Sidney [Coy] on positioning themselves in the outfield. She's been there to give advice and help the girls in the batting cage. She's just been a great teammate. To me, there are a lot of people who have tremendous talent when it comes to playing the game. A great player is defined as someone who makes players around them better. I think [Roberts] is definitely one of those players.”
The Warhawks are looking to make a run in the SBC Tournament starting tomorrow in their first game against Georgia Southern at 10 a.m. CST.
For updates on the softball squad, be sure to follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
