Rogers State’s Andrea Morales was named the Heartland Conference Pitcher of the Year on Wednesday, as Morales and Danelle Day brought home Heartland Conference honors, announced the league office.
Morales earned the top pitching honor in the league after a dominating sophomore season in the circle for the Hillcats. Morales tossed a conference-leading 217.1 innings while allowing just 48 earned runs for a 1.55 earned run average.
The El Paso, Texas native is tied for fifth in Division II in shutouts with 10, ranks seventh in strikeouts (227) and ninth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.58). She won a conference-high 24 games, which is fourth best in the NCAA, while allowing opponents to hit just .199 against her.
Morales was named the Heartland Conference Pitcher of the Week on five occasions in 2019, leading the league.
Morales was also named to the All-Heartland Softball First Team.
Joining Morales with a first-team selection was catcher Danelle Day. Day led the Hillcats with a .353 batting average, 54 hits, eight doubles, 17 home runs, 51 RBIs and a .460 on-base percentage.
Her 17 home runs, led the Heartland Conference and ranked sixth in the NCAA. Her 51 RBIs was also best in the Heartland and ranked 30th in the NCAA. Day also led the Heartland Conference in slugging percentage (.739) and total bases (113).
Morales, Day and the rest of the Hillcats will return to action on Thursday, taking on Oklahoma Christian in the first round of the Heartland Conference tournament. First pitch is set for 1:30 p.m. in San Antonio, Texas.
