After winning the first Big West championship in its program history, Pacific added to its 2011 season with three of the league’s major awards. Nikki Armagost was named Offensive Player of the Year, Kelsey Rodriguez earned Freshman Field Player of the Year and Brian Kolze nabbed the Coach of the Year honor.

Long Beach State also earned multiple awards as Erin Jones-Wesley was named the Big West Pitcher and Freshman Pitcher of the Year. It marks the second time in league history that an athlete has achieved that feat as Jones-Wesley’s teammate Brooke Turner did it back in 2008. Cal State Fullerton also picked up recognition as K.C. Craddick was named the Big West Defensive Player of the Year.

Armagost is Pacific's first Offensive Player of the Year since Gina Carbonatto in 2006 and just the fourth Tiger recipient in the history of the Big West. The two-way star has been a stalwart in the middle of the Pacific lineup all season, batting .374 with 45 RBI, 64 hits, 35 runs and 11 doubles. She ranks fourth in batting, tied for second in RBI, second in hits, fourth in runs scored and tied for seventh in doubles. In conference play, the Andover, Kan., native batted .333 (24-72) with 13 RBI, 15 runs scored, seven doubles, a .431 slugging mark and a .400 on-base percentage. Armagost has also collected 20 multi-hit games, including one four-hit outburst, and 12 multi-RBI outings which included two games of five RBI.

Jones-Wesley becomes the second Pitcher of the Year in four years and the fourth Freshman Pitcher of the Year winner in five seasons for LBSU. Her freshman season has been nothing short of amazing as she leads the Big West in ERA (1.45) and wins (22), while ranking fifth in innings pitched (183.2), second in strikeouts (163), second in opposing batting average (.211) and second in runs allowed (48). Jones-Wesley was just as stellar in conference play, going 11-3 with a 1.55 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 86.0 innings. Jones-Wesley had a number of highlights during her true freshman campaign, including striking out 11 in a win over Utah State on March 13, pitching a no-hitter against Baylor on March 5 and winning six Big West Pitcher of the Week awards.

Craddick is the Defensive Player of the Year recipient in the inaugural year of the award. One of the premier defenders in the Big West, Craddick spends most of her time in the infield, but can also play outfield for the Titans. In 381 chances, Craddick recorded 364 putouts, 16 assists and committed just one error for a .997 fielding percentage. She has the highest fielding percentage of all players in the league with 300+ chances and was a part of 13 double plays.

Rodriguez is the third Pacific player to win the Freshman Field Player of the Year and second in four years. After getting off to a slow start, Rodriguez leads the Big West in hitting with a .395 batting average and ranks eighth in the league in hits (51). She tore apart Big West foes to the tune of a .406 batting average, two home runs 16 RBI, a .531 slugging percentage, 10 walks and three steals while starting all 21 contests. In addition to winning a Big West Player of the Week award on May 9, Rodriguez had 12 multi-hit games and seven multi-RBI outings.

Kolze led Pacific to an impressive turnaround in 2011, culminating in the program’s first Big West championship. After going just 24-30 in 2010, Kolze has led the Tigers to a 37-17 mark and their first NCAA bid since 2007. Along the way, Pacific has topped three ranked teams, including California out of the Pac-10, claimed eight Big West weekly awards and recorded it’s most overall and conference wins since the 2002 season. This marks the fourth time Kolze has won the Big West Coach of the Year honor, but the first time since 2002 that he has taken away the league's top coaching honor.

Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State and Pacific each led the way with eight All-Big West selections, but the Tigers had the most first teamers as they placed seven on the list. UC Riverside also had a big moment as the club had Kayla White named to the first team. She is just the third Highlander in program history to gain a spot on the league’s top squad. The complete Big West teams can be viewed on the file above.

2011 OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Nikki Armagost, Pacific

2011 PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Erin Jones-Wesley, Long Beach State

2011 COACH OF THE YEAR
Brian Kolze, Pacific

2011 DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
K.C. Craddick, Cal State Fullerton

2011 FRESHMAN FIELD PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Kelsey Rodriguez, Pacific

2011 FRESHMAN PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Erin Jones-Wesley, Long Beach State

2011 BIG WEST SOFTBALL ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM

FIRST TEAM
Player	School	Pos	B-T	Ht.	Year	Hometown
^Nikki Armagost	Pacific	P	L-R	5-8	Sophomore	Andover, Kan.
^Alex Holmes	UC Davis	P	L-L	5-9	Senior	San Juan Capistrano, Calif.
Erin Jones-Wesley	Long Beach State	P	R-R	5-8	Freshman	Alta Loma, Calif.
Amy Moore	Pacific	C	R-R	5-7	Sophomore	Valencia, Calif.
Mikayla Thielges	Cal State Northridge	C	R-R	6-0	Sophomore	Las Vegas, Nev.
Nicole Matson	Pacific	1B	R-R	5-11	Junior	Castaic, Calif.
^Jaci Carlsen	Cal State Northridge	2B	R-R	5-4	Junior	Reno, Nev.
Keilani Jennings	UC Santa Barbara	SS	R-R	5-7	Sophomore	Newbury Park, Calif.
^Liz Javier	Long Beach State	3B	R-R	5-7	Senior	Downey, Calif.
Hannah De Gaetano	Long Beach State	OF	R-R	5-4	Freshman	San Pedro, Calif.
^Megan Hom	Pacific	OF	L-R	5-7	Sophomore	Irvine, Calif.
Lindsey Pierce	Pacific	OF	L-R	5-2	Senior	Camarillo, Calif.
Kayla White	UC Riverside	OF	R-R	5-5	Sophomore	San Jose, Calif.
^Nikki Armagost	Pacific	UT	L-R	5-8	Sophomore	Andover, Kan.
+Anna Cahn	Cal Poly	DP	L-L	6-1	Senior	Los Alamitos, Calif.
Kelsey Rodriguez	Pacific	DP	R-R	5-6	Freshman	Scottsdale, Ariz.
SECOND TEAM
Player	School	Pos	B-T	Ht.	Year	Hometown
Ari Cervantes	Cal State Fullerton	P	L-R	5-10	Senior	Tustin, Calif.
Krista Cobb	UC Santa Barbara	P	R-R	5-9	Junior	West Hills, Calif.
Tori Shepard	Pacific	P	R-R	5-10	Freshman	Lodi, Calif.
Ariel Tsuchiyama	Cal State Fullerton	C	L-L	5-4	Sophomore	La Habra, Calif.
Christina Schallig	Long Beach State	1B	R-R	5-5	Senior	Carson, Calif.
Nalani St. Germain	Long Beach State	2B	R-R	5-9	Sophomore	Chino Hills, Calif.
Kameryn Hebenton	UC Riverside	SS	R-R	5-1	Senior	Beaumont, Calif.
Brittany Keeney	UC Riverside	3B	R-R	5-4	Junior	Canyon Lake, Calif.
Megan Guzman	UC Davis	OF	L-R	5-7	Sophomore	Long Beach, Calif.
Kristen Mihm	Cal State Northridge	OF	R-R	5-6	Senior	Monrovia, Calif.
Allison Taylor	UC Santa Barbara	OF	R-R	5-7	Junior	Orange, Calif.
Alex Holmes	UC Davis	UT	L-L	5-9	Senior	San Juan Capistrano, Calif.
Sarah Carrasco	Long Beach State	DP	R-R	5-8	Freshman	Lakewood, Calif.
HONORABLE MENTION
Player	School	Pos	B-T	Ht.	Year	Hometown
Katey Laban	Cal State Fullerton	P	R-R	5-3	Sophomore	Fullerton, Calif.
Taylor Petty	Long Beach State	P	R-R	5-5	Junior	San Pedro, Calif.
Brooke Turner	Long Beach State	P	R-R	5-11	Senior	Buena Park, Calif.
K.C. Craddick	Cal State Fullerton	1B	L-L	5-6	Senior	Yorba Linda, Calif.
Kathryn Pilpil	UC Santa Barbara	2B	L-R	5-4	Freshman	Oxnard, Calif.
Elizabeth Santana	UC Davis	SS	R-R	5-3	Sophomore	Fontana, Calif.
Jessica Gonzalez	UC Davis	3B	R-R	5-2	Senior	Cameron Park, Calif.
Nicole Johnson	Cal State Fullerton	3B	R-R	5-7	Junior	Canyon Country, Calif.
Torrie Anderson	Cal State Fullerton	OF	R-R	5-9	Senior	Castaic, Calif.
Ashley Carter	Cal State Fullerton	OF	L-R	5-4	Sophomore	Fontana, Calif.
Jennifer Mosier	Cal State Northridge	OF	L-R	5-2	Senior	Simi Valley, Calif.
Nora Sobczak	Cal Poly	OF	L-R	5-7	Junior	Thousand Oaks, Calif.
Ari Cervantes	Cal State Fullerton	UT	L-R	5-10	Senior	Tustin, Calif.
^ - Two-time first team All-Conference selection
+ - Three-time first team All-Conference selection
2011 OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR Nikki Armagost, Pacific
2011 PITCHER OF THE YEAR Erin Jones-Wesley, Long Beach State
2011 COACH OF THE YEAR Brian Kolze, Pacific
2011 DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR K.C. Craddick, Cal State Fullerton
2011 FRESHMAN FIELD PLAYER OF THE YEAR Kelsey Rodriguez, Pacific
2011 FRESHMAN PITCHER OF THE YEAR Erin Jones-Wesley, Long Beach State