(Posted May 10, 2005)

Huntingdon, PA - For the second time in as many seasons the Juniata College softball team has placed a pair of players on the All-Commonwealth Conference team, as selected by the conference's eight head coaches. Junior Renae Hobbs (Mount Union/Mount Union) and freshman Kim Wagner (Middletown/Middletown) both received first-team All-Conference recognition for the first time in their careers. Wagner was one of four outfielders named to the first team, while Hobbs earned her spot as the utility player on the first team. It marks the seventh-consecutive season that Juniata has placed at least one player on the All-Commonwealth Conference team.

Hobbs did a little bit of everything in her junior season for Juniata, as she earned her first All-Conference honor. After playing primarily as a pitcher in her first two seasons, she played several positions in the infield and outfield along with making appearances as a pitcher and catcher in 2005. She closed the year with a career-high .347 batting average which ranked second on the team, while also tying for the team lead with 19 runs scored. She pounded out 33 hits on the year, the second-highest total for Juniata, and paced the team with seven doubles. She was second on the team with a .432 slugging percentage while adding nine stolen bases. She had 10 multi-hit games during the year, and was one of just two Eagles to start all 33 games. Along with her offense, Hobbs added three wins as a pitcher and recorded an earned run average of 3.95. She started seven games and completed four of them as a hurler, and fanned 16 batters. Her three victories moved her into first place in Juniata history in career victories with 21, and she ranks second all-time in career strikeouts.

In just her first collegiate season, Wagner emerged as an offensive threat for the Eagles as she claimed her first All-Conference recognition. Despite missing nine games due to injury, she closed the season with a team-high 38 hits and a .463 batting average. She also swiped a team-best 18 bases and was caught just once. Though playing in fewer games she ranked in the top-10 in the conference in hits, and her stolen base total was tops among conference players. She also led Juniata with 19 runs scored on the year and was the team leader in slugging and on-base percentage. Wagner hit safely in 20 of the 23 games she played, and opened her career by posting at least one hit in her first 10 games. She had two or more hits in 12 contests, including five three-hit efforts. Wagner was tabbed as the Commonwealth Softball Player of the Week on one occasion during the year, the only Juniata player to earn that honor in 2005.

Juniata finished the 2005 season with a record of 15-17-1. The Eagles placed fifth in the Commonwealth Conference and missed out on claiming its third-consecutive conference postseason spot by just one position. The Eagles claimed at least 14 wins for the fourth-straight season, and graduate just one player from the 2005 team.

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Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.