LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Two San Diego State softball players earned National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-West Region honors, the NFCA announced Thursday. Shelby Thompson made the second team, while Maggie Balint landed on the third team.
NFCA member head coaches from each respective region voted on the teams and all student-athletes are now eligible for the 2021 NFCA Division I All-America squads.
Thompson, who last week was name the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year and became the first five-time all-conference player in league history, batted .324 (46-for-142) with nine home runs, 31 RBIs, 33 runs, seven doubles, 11 walks, 14 times hit by pitch and eight stolen bases, while owning a .420 on-base percentage and a .563 slugging percentage. Thompson led the Aztecs in numerous offensive categories, including at-bats (142), runs (33), hits (46), home runs (9, tied), RBIs (31), total bases (80), times hit by pitch (14) and on-base percentage (.420). Defensively, Thompson committed just three errors at second base in 168 chances for .982 fielding percentage.
Balint, meanwhile, finished 17-8 with two saves and a 2.18 ERA in 166 2/3 innings. The right-hander recorded seven solo shutouts and combined for another, while striking out 137 with 41 walks, while limiting the opposition to a .212 average. Balint, who last week was named to the all-MW first team with Thompson, recorded 16 complete games in the 21 games she started, while appearing in 33 of the team's 44 games. Balint also was a two-time MW Pitcher of the Week in 2021.
SDSU finished with a 28-16 record, its best winning percentage (.636) since the 2015 squad went 38-20 (.655) before falling in the NCAA Los Angeles Regional final to UCLA. It was also the ninth-best record in program history.