LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – Slippery Rock University softball standout Alexsa Hurd was named the 2025 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division Pitcher of the Year, with PSAC West Coach of the Year honors going to SRU's Stacey Rice, the conference office announced Tuesday.
 
They join Sydney Brown, Emma Kennedy and Shaylyn Shall in receiving all-conference recognition. Hurd earned the utility/pitcher slot on the first team, while SRU was well-represented on the second team with Kennedy as catcher, Brown at second base and Shall in the designated player position.
 
Hurd caps off a four-year career with four All-PSAC West selections. This is her second time being featured with a first-team accolade. She is the first Rock softball player to earn four consecutive All-PSAC West honors since Jenna Geibel in 2010-13 and the first PSAC West Pitcher of the Year to come from Slippery Rock since Shaylee Ianno in 2011.
 
Brown, Kennedy and Shall are all receiving their first All-PSAC West awards. The four members selected to all-conference awards mark Slippery Rock's largest All-PSAC West class since Megan Brown, Lauren Hawley, Kailey Myers and Emily Nagle all earned all-conference accolades in 2018.
 
Gannon University's Emma Smerick was named the PSAC West Athlete of the Year with Freshman of the Year honors going to Seton Hill University's Shelby Telegdy. All-Conference teams and major awards are determined annually by a vote of the conference's head coaches.
 
A look at the season highlights for each of The Rock's All-PSAC selections can be found below.
 
The Rock will make a third consecutive appearance in the PSAC Tournament 3 p.m. Wednesday in Quakertown, Pennsylvania. As recipients of a first-round bye and the top seed in the PSAC West, Slippery Rock's first opponent will be the winner of Wednesday morning's game between California (Pa.) and Bloomsburg University.
 
ALEXSA HURD – Pitcher of the Year | 1^st team utility/pitcher
Hurd fittingly capped off a tremendous career at Slippery Rock with her first PSAC West Pitcher of the Week honor as well as a second career first-team selection. She ranks third in Division II with 10.9 strikeouts per seven innings and 25^th nationally with 0.3 home runs per game. She is the only pitcher in NCAA softball – Divisions I, II and III – to average over 10 strikeouts per seven while producing more than one home run every four games.
 
A native of Suffield, Ohio, Hurd's regular season concluded with a 41^st career home run that earned her a 154^th RBI, both breaking SRU program records. She simultaneously tied the program's all-time hits record with 186 and enters the PSAC Tournament tied for first in Rock softball history with 39 wins.
 
Splitting time mainly between the circle and second base, Hurd batted .302 throughout the regular season while slugging .642. Against PSAC West opponents, she racked up an OPS of 1.122. Starting in all 46 games, Hurd totaled 14 home runs, 12 doubles, 46 RBI and 48 hits. In the circle she set a single-season wins record going 16-5 with one save and a 2.71 ERA, breaking yet another program record with 228 strikeouts in 147.0 innings pitched.
 
STACEY RICE – Coach of the Year
Exactly 20 years after being named the PSAC West Rookie of the Year as a soon-to-be acclaimed shortstop, Rice has become Slippery Rock softball's first coach to be named the PSAC West Coach of the Year. She led the team to its first PSAC West regular season title in program history, amassing a 27-19 record that includes a 21-7 mark in conference play.
 
The Slippery Rock Athletics Hall-of-Famer became the longest-tenured coach in program history at the outset of the 2025 campaign, entering her 11^th year at the helm. SRU's third win of the season – a 3-2 victory in eight innings over the University of Sioux Falls – marked the 185^th of her career, lending her the program's all-time wins record.
 
Rice, who becomes the first Rock softball coach to lead the team to three straight PSAC Tournament appearances since Jan Kasnevich in 1984, enters the postseason with 209 career wins.
 
SYDNEY BROWN – 2^nd team 2B
Brown had a breakout year in her second season with The Rock. A sophomore from Chester, West Virginia, Brown hit .368 through the regular season, slugging . 491 and posting a .390 on-base percentage. She concluded the regular season slate with nine RBI, two triples, three doubles, 10 runs and 21 hits.
 
Brown helped open up the newly-remodeled Kasnevich Field by becoming the second player in recorded SRU softball history to log two triples in the same game, going 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs in a sweep over Wheeling University. She registered the first three-hit game of her career by going 3-for-3 in a 6-5 win over Indiana University (Pa.).
 
SHAYLYN SHALL – 2^nd team DP
Shall's bat proved to be invaluable to the Rock softball lineup this season, with the freshman from Aliquippa, Pennsylvania hitting .377. Shall is looking to become the first qualified Rock softball freshman to bat above .350 since 2013. She also leads the team with a .473 on-base percentage that ranks ninth in the PSAC.
 
Throughout her first season, Shall tallied 31 RBI, two home runs, eight doubles, 29 runs and 46 hits. She was named the PSAC West Athlete of the Week March 31, becoming The Rock's first freshman to win a PSAC weekly honor in seven years. Her award came after a 5-1 week in which she led the team batting .450 with a team-leading 10 RBI.
 
EMMA KENNEDY – 2^nd team C
While Kennedy has consistently been one of the greatest catchers the conference has seen in the last four years, her senior year stood out at a notch above the rest. Kennedy led The Rock throughout the regular season with a .406 batting average and a 1.033 OPS, accumulating 23 RBI, four home runs, eight doubles, 18 runs and 41 hits.
 
The veteran from Monroeville, Pennsylvania posted two or more hits in 13 games, including a 3-for-4 outing at Clarion that came with a home run, a 4-for-5 showing at California with six RBI, and a 3-for-3 Senior Day performance that featured a home run and a double. Kennedy also played a vital defensive role behind the plate for SRU with a near-perfect .993 fielding percentage.





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