DePaul's Heteniak honored as Big East's top pitcher

LOUISVILLE - DePaul All-American Becca Heteniak picked up her second consecutive Pitcher of the Year Award at the conference's annual awards banquet Wednesday at the Downtown Louisville Marriott.

The Blue Demon coaches also were named the league's Coaching Staff of the Year while three other student-athletes were represented on the league's three all-conference teams.

Heteniak picked up her second consecutive Big East Pitcher of the Year award after holding league batters to a stingy .160 average. The junior, who also won the conference's Rookie of the Year in 2007, recorded a 1.17 ERA and ranked second in the league with 93 Ks. She threw a no-hitter at Rutgers and shut out five conference opponents and improved her career conference record to 33-3 with a 12-2 record in the circle this season.

Amber Patton joined Heteniak on the first team. Patton led the league in average and on base percentage throughout the season and set a new conference record with 41 hits during league play. The senior from Forsyth, Ill., registered a hit in all but one of DePaul's 21 conference game. She tallied 15 multiple-hit performances as well.

Shortstop Tara Voss and catcher Jackie Tarulli-Fisher were named to the third team as at-large selections.

Along with picking up Pitcher of the Year accolades, Heteniak also earned a spot on the first team as a pitcher and a utility player. Heteniak led the Blue Demons with 6 home runs and 21 RBI while she was walked a league-high 26 times. Once on the bathpath, Heteniak led the team and was safe in all seven of her steal attempts.