Bowling Green, KY – After a flawless 18-0 showing in MSC action this season the Pats earn four out of five MSC Top Honors and had nine named to an All-Conference team, conference officials announced on Tuesday afternoon. Carly Oliver earned MSC Player of the Year while Lindsey Shope was named Mid-South Pitcher of the Year. Maliyah Wilkins garnered Freshman of the Year and Head Coach Bailey Dillender was voted MSC Coach of the Year as well. This is the third straight season the Pats have won Player, Pitcher, and Coach of the Year honors.
 
Coach Dillender earns her fourth MSC Head Coach of the Year over her time at UC, and her third in a row after another dominant year in the conference. She has led the Patriots to a 62-1 record in MSC regular season play the last three seasons and has the pats consistently ranked inside the top-five in the NAIA.
 
Oliver was named MSC Player of the Year, First-Team All-Conference, and earned a gold glove for her dominance this season. She leads the team in hits, doubles and RBIs and is tied for the team leader in homeruns and batting average. The grad student is batting .439 on the year with 16 doubles, eight homeruns, and 47 RBIs. This is her third straight season being a first-team all-conference member and third gold glove award as well.
 
The Pats win their third straight MSC Pitcher of the Year honors behind an impressive performance from Shope in the circle. She enters postseason play with an 18-3 record and a 1.68 ERA. Opponents are hitting just .205 against the graduate senior and have scored only 21 earned runs in 129.1 innings pitched. Shope earns the first MSC First-Team honors of her career after being a second-team honoree a season ago and has flashed her defensive skills as she was named a gold glove winner.
 
Wilkins rounds out the Patriots top award honorees, becoming just the third player in program history to earn MSC Freshman of the Year, and the first since 2019 when Maddie Sickau earned the distinction. The freshman has had an excellent start to her collegiate career serving as UC's DP. Wilkins is batting .412 on the year and is tied with Oliver for the team leader in HRs with eight. She has 15 doubles, 43 RBIs and is slugging .739 in the cleanup spot for the Pats.
 
Six other Patriots earned MSC All-Conference honors including with five joining their teammates on the first team. Bailey Turnbow earns her third-straight First-Team nod while Amber Gainer and Jade Gainer earn the honors for the second year in a row. Newcomers, Emma McDonald and Jessica Cord made the MSC First-Team in their first season at UC while Jules Johnson is a Second-Team All-Conference award winner.
 
Turnbow is hitting .336 with seven doubles and six homeruns on the year as the Pats first baseman. A. Gainer is tied for the team leader in batting average, hitting .439 with 12 doubles, 49 runs scored, and 32 stolen bases. J. Gainer is batting .350 with 41 hits and 15 stolen bases while McDonald has a .397 average with 46 hits and 29 runs scored. Cord is the second pitcher for UC on the first team, compiling an 11-2 record on the year with a 1.85 ERA, 40 strikeouts, and an opposing batting average of .228.  Johnson has had a fantastic second half of the season, earning second-team honors as the Pats catcher after posting a .412 avg. in MSC play.
 
Aniyah White rounds out the Patriots award winners with gold glove honors. The shortstop has a .915 fielding percentage as part of one of the best middle infields in the country.
 
UC's nine all-conference honorees and three gold glove winners are the most in the MSC this season. The Patriots look to continue their impressive season at the Mid-South Conference Tournament tomorrow afternoon at 5 PM ET in Clarksville, TN.
 
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