DUBOIS, Pa. — Mississippi University for Women’s Damain Benefield and Cara Hopper were named to the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) Small College World Series All-Tournament teams for their performances last month.
The W baseball team went 2-2 at the event in its inaugural season. Benefield, a freshman infielder, played in all four games and had six hits and five RBIs. The Ranburne, Alabama, native was 2-for-2 with a home run and a double, two runs, and an RBI in a loss to Selma.
Benefield, who was named first-team USCAA All-American First Team, also earned a USCAA Player of the Week honor. Among regular players, he paced the Owls with a .437 batting average and a .757 slugging percentage. He also led the team with 45 hits, seven home runs, 12 doubles (tied with Prince Tolbert), and 37 RBIs.
As the only senior on The W softball team, Hopper, a right-handed pitcher, helped lead the program to a 2-2 showing at the World Series in its first season back as an intercollegiate sport. Appearing in all four games with one complete game, Hopper struck out 29 in 18 1/3 innings.
Her standout performance was in a shutout against Penn State – Beaver in which the Steens native allowed one hit and struck out 11 in a complete game, 7-0 victory.
During the season, Hopper went 7-7 with a 3.09 earned run average in 21 games (14 starts). She struck out 76 in 88 1/3 innings.
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