June 1, 2006

By Matt Crouch
www.siusalukis.com

WALTHAM, Mass. - The awards keep rolling in for the Southern Illinois University softball team as junior Amanda Clifton and sophomore Krystal Stein pick up CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America honors.

The pair was announced Wednesday as members of the CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Teams. Clifton earned second-team honors while Stein was named to the third team.

This marks the first time since 1992 that SIU has had multiple honorees on the Academic All-America teams. The recognition also ranks the dup with some of Southern's finest as only six other Saluki softball players have earned this honor.

"To have two is a special honor and a credit to both Amanda and Krystal for the hard work that they have put in both on and off the field," said SIU head coach Kerri Blaylock.

"I'm really proud of them."

Clifton, a catcher from St. Louis, earns second-team honors with a 3.94 cumulative grade point average while majoring in accounting and management information systems.

She finished the season with a .315 (23-for-73) batting average, ranking third on the team, while hitting four doubles and five home runs. She also drew 16 walks for a team-best .438 on-base percentage.

No stranger to honors this season, Clifton was also named to the CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V first team, the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete first team and the MVC All-Tournament team.

Stein, an outfielder from Nashville, Ill., earns third team honors with a 4.00 cumulative GPA while majoring in public relations.

She finished the season with a .314 (37-for-118) batting average, hitting five doubles and three triples. She also finished third on the team in stolen bases with six.

Stein is another that the awards have seemed to have found in 2006. She was named CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V first team, MVC Scholar-Athlete first team, All-MVC first team and All-Great Lakes Region second team.

Stein and Clifton were the lone honorees from the Missouri Valley Conference on this year's teams.

The Salukis are coming off a 35-13 season that saw the squad advance to its fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament. SIU also spent seven weeks during the 2006 season ranked in the top 25 in the nation.