Riley, Lotti & Benevides Earn NEISCA Honors

Providence, RI— Rhode Island College junior pitcher Nicole Riley (North Providence, RI), sophomore first baseman Christie Lotti (Waterford, CT) and senior left fielder Katie Benevides (North Dighton, MA) were named to the New England Softball Coaches Association (NEISCA) All-Star Teams.

Lotti was named a First Team NEISCA All-Star. She played in 44 games, starting all of them. She batted .389 (58-for-149) with 58 hits, 39 runs, seven doubles, 11 triples, four home runs, 26 RBI and eight stolen bases. She owned a .664 slugging percentage, a .429 on-base percentage and a .978 fielding percentage. She led RIC in batting, hits, runs, triples, home runs and was tied for the team lead in stolen bases. She was named the Little East Conference Softball Player of the Year, as well as earning First Team All-LEC honors. Lotti was also named First Team All-New England.

Riley, who was also the Little East Conference Pitcher of the Year and a First Team All-LEC selection, was named a First Team All-NEISCA All-Star. She was 26-2 with two saves, a 1.38 ERA and 172 strikeouts in 192.1 innings pitched. She established a new RIC record for wins in a season. She was also a First Team All-New England selection and was named to the 2006 NCAA Div. III New England Regionals Softball Tournament’s All-Tournament Team as an At-Large selection.

Benevides was named a Second Team NEISCA All-Star. She played in 44 games, starting all of them. She batted .368 (53-for-144) with 53 hits, 35 runs, five doubles, one triple, 14 RBI and five stolen bases. She owned a .417 slugging percentage, a .425 on-base percentage and a .932 fielding percentage. Benevides was second on the team in batting, hits and runs. She was also a First Team All-Little East Conference and a Second Team All-New England selection.

Head Coach Maria Morin’s team went 2-0 at the NCAA Div. III New England Regional Softball Tournament, earning a 1-0 (9) win over St. Joseph’s-Long Island on May 11 and coming from three runs down in the bottom of the seventh to tie and eventually win, 5-4, over third-seeded Western New England on May 12. Due to inclement weather, the tournament was halted after eight games and top-seeded Williams advanced per NCAA rules. RIC was the Little East Conference Softball Regular Season and Tournament Champion and made its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Div. III Softball Tournament.

The Anchorwomen concluded the 2006 season with a 35-8-1 overall record.

-end-