Awald, Kauf Earn Preseason All-ACC Honors

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Georgia Tech softball’s Tricia Awald and Emma Kauf have been named to the 2022 Preseason All-ACC Softball Team as voted on by the Atlantic Coast Conference head coaches, the league announced on Wednesday.

Awald enters the 2022 season as a graduate senior set to anchor first base. The lauded slugger is coming off a decorated 2021 season where she was tabbed a Justin’s World of Softball Third Team All-American, NFCA First Team All-Region and First Team All-ACC first baseman. The Marietta, Ga., native backed up her awards with multiple historic marks in 2021 as she topped the ACC and tallied the third highest on-base percentage in a season in program history (.555) as well as the eighth highest batting average (.411) and slugging percentage (.726) in the Tech record books. Awald started every game last season, also leading the team in hits (51), homeruns (11) and total bases (90).

Kauf will continue her duties as the mainstay behind the dish in 2022 on the heels of an esteemed 2021 season in her own right. The Lincoln, Neb., native was tabbed the top catcher in the conference as an All-ACC First Team and ACC All-Freshman Team member a year ago. En route to those honors, Kauf batted .345 with 48 hits, seven doubles, two triples and 10 homeruns for 33 RBI, 30 runs scored and a .640 slugging percentage along with six steals last season. Each of those marks placed her second on the team apart from her pair of triples, which led the squad.

The Preseason All-ACC Softball Team is voted on by the league’s head coaches and consists of a minimum of 14 players. Each ballot was comprised of five infielders, four outfielders, three pitchers, a catcher and either a designated player or utility player.

The Jackets were voted to finish seventh in the 2022 ACC Softball Preseason Coaches Poll, up two spots from a season ago.

The White and Gold return to the field to open the 2022 season with the 23^rd Buzz Classic, beginning Feb. 11 with a doubleheader against Saint Joseph’s and Villanova at Mewborn Field.

The Yellow Jackets’ full schedule can be viewed here.

2022 ACC Softball Preseason Coaches Poll
Florida State – 137 (8 First-Place Votes)
Clemson – 128 (2 First-Place Votes)
Virginia Tech – 126 (2 First-Place Votes)
Duke – 119 (1 First-Place Vote)
Notre Dame – 99
Louisville – 86
Georgia Tech – 72
North Carolina – 63
NC State – 57
Virginia – 36
Pitt – 35
Syracuse – 29
Boston College – 27

2022 Preseason All-ACC Softball Team
Valerie Cagle, Clemson, R-So., P
McKenzie Clark, Clemson, So., OF
Dejanae Davis, Duke, Sr., DP/UTL
Jameson Kavel, Duke, 5th Year, INF
Kathryn Sandercock, Florida State, Sr., P
Sydney Sherrill, Florida State, Gr., INF
Tricia Awald, Georgia Tech, Gr., INF
Emma Kauf, Georgia Tech, Jr., C
Camryn Greenwood, Louisville, Gr., OF
Abby Sweet, Notre Dame, Gr., OF
Kelsey Bennett, Virginia Tech, Jr., INF
Kelsey Brown, Virginia Tech, Jr., OF
Cameron Fagan, Virginia Tech, So., INF
Keely Rochard, Virginia Tech, Sr., P

Tickets

Georgia Tech softball 2022 season tickets are now on sale and can be purchased HERE.

Season tickets are located in the reserved chairback sections of Mewborn Field and cost $100 per seat. Single-game tickets will go on sale in the near future. More ticketing information, including the steps to become a member of the Mew Crew and the benefits of joining, can be found on the official Georgia Tech Softball Tickets page.

Securing season tickets will allow fans to maintain the best seats in the house for every home game this season as well as the best price ($100 for 34 scheduled home games), a significant discount from single-game pricing.

Alexander-Tharpe Fund

The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Georgia Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of developing Georgia Tech’s Everyday Champions and helping the Yellow Jackets compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes. To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.   

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