Skip to main content

Trio from HU on all-conference SB squad

(From left) Emily Puterbaugh, Alyssa Hiple and Natalie McGuire.
(From left) Emily Puterbaugh, Alyssa Hiple and Natalie McGuire. Photos provided.

Huntington University’s Emily Puterbaugh was named co-pitcher of the year by the Crossroads League when it announced its 2016 softball awards on May 5.

The regular season saw Puterbaugh, a senior, boast a 1.05 earned run average and hold opponents to a .181 batting average. The Foresters’ ace, 19-4, pitched 160.1 innings, striking out 162 batters while surrendering 105 hits and a mere 23 walks.

Puterbaugh went 16-2 in Crossroads League play and ranked first in the conference in six different pitching categories, in addition to being among the league’s top five in six other pitching categories.

She shares the award with Marian University’s Breena Smith.

Joining Puterbaugh on the all-conference team was junior Natalie McGuire and sophomore Alyssa Hiple.

McGuire led Huntington in hitting, at .413, and on-base percentage, at .480, to rank seventh and fourth, respectively, among her league peers. For the year, she logged 45 hits, including nine for extra bases, 24 runs and 17 runs batted in. Defensively, the shortstop ranked third in the conference in assists per game with 2.46. She boasted a .932 fielding percentage, having committed just 13 errors in 46 games.

As the Foresters’ most dangerous hitter, Hiple carried a .357 batting average and slugged a team-best 60 hits, which included 14 doubles, a triple and six home runs. The former Huntington North High School standout also led the team in RBI, 37; total bases, 94; runs, 34; and slugging percentage, .560.

Sophomore Audra Klopfenstein was also recognized by the league as an honorable mention all-conference honoree. She led the Foresters in steals with 17 and ranked second in hitting, .375; on base percentage, .421; and hits, 57.

The right fielder was perfect defensively and for her efforts was named to the league’s gold glove team. She sat atop the conference in fielding percentage at 1.00 while logging 39 putouts and one assist through 48 games.