Ragin’ Cajuns: NFCA names Elkins Div. I Catcher of Year

LAFAYETTE — Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns softball standout Lexie Elkins added the distinction of nation’s top catcher to her list of awards for a record-breaking 2015 season on Thursday, as the National Fastpitch Coaches Association named her the 2015 Diamond Sports Division I Catcher of the Year, according to the Ragin’ Cajuns news release..
The Diamond Sports Catcher of the Year award is presented annually to the top catcher from an NFCA member institution in each of the following divisions: NCAA (Divisions I, II and III), NAIA, NJCAA (Divisions I, II and III), Cal JC, NWAC and high school. A committee comprised of head coaches in each of the 10 divisions determined the winner of their respective award.
Elkins generated a program-record 32 home runs during the 2015 campaign, which led all levels of collegiate softball and tied for second on the NCAA all-division season list. She unseated Danyele Gomez as the program’s single-season home run record holder, besting Gomez’s 30 home runs hit in 2006.
The rising senior led the nation in RBI per game (1.54), recording 83 RBI to join Christi Orgeron (2011, 2012) as the only players in program history to reach 80 RBI. She set a new program record for slugging percentage at 1.077, breaking Gomez’s record .957 from 2006, becoming the first Cajun to finish above 1.000.
Elkins fielded all but one of 403 chances cleanly on defense, ending the year with a .998 fielding percentage. She posted 25 assists, aided in three double plays and allowed only three passed balls.
The Victoria, Texas, native is the first Ragin’ Cajuns softball student-athlete to be named Diamond Sports Catcher of the Year and first from the Sun Belt Conference to garner this distinction as it becomes the fifth conference to have a representative receive the award.
Elkins’ efforts in 2015 also earned her first team All-America and All-Central Region honors from the NFCA, first team honors from the Sun Belt Conference and Louisiana Sports Writers Association and Sun Belt Player of the Year distinction for the second straight year. She was one of 26 finalists for the USA Softball Player of the Year award.
Past winners of the Diamond Sports Division I Catcher of the Year award Arizona’s Leah Braatz-Cochrane (1997-98), UCLA’s Stacey Nuveman (1999, 2001-02), Washington’s Kristen Rivera (2003-05) and Mississippi State’s Chelsea Bramlett (2008-10).
Elkins is the second student-athlete from a Louisiana school to win the award, joining LSU’s Killian Roessner who received the honor in 2007.
The Ragin’ Cajuns finished the 2015 campaign with a 42-12 record. Louisiana claimed its second straight Sun Belt Conference regular season championship and 13th in the 15 years of league competition since 2001. The squad appeared in the NCAA Tournament for the 17th straight year and 25th time in the past 26 years dating back to 1990. Louisiana hosted an NCAA Regional at Lamson Park for the third time in the past four years (2012, 2014,2015) and advanced to a NCAA Super Regional for the fourth straight year (2012-15).