The 2016 Emory softball team came through with many team and individual accomplishments that was highlighted by the program’s return to the NCAA D-III Championships for the first time since 2007.

The Eagles of head coach Penny Siqueiros posted their 17^th consecutive winning campaign, finishing with an overall record of 46-8, with the victory total establish a school record for most triumphs in a campaign, bettering the previous standard of 43 set by the 2002 squad.   The team’s final ledger represented the seventh time in the last eight years that it surpassed the 30-victory plateau and the 14^th time in its 18-year history.    Emory has now captured 40 or more wins four times during its history.

The Eagles earned their 10^th bid in the past 11 seasons and 14^th overall to the NCAA Tournament. For the third straight year of D-III’s revised postseason format, Emory advanced to the Super Regional round. Emory started postseason play at the Mount Berry Regional hosted by Berry College, opening with victories over No. 7 Birmingham Southern and No. 4-ranked and host Vikings.  After a Berry win forced a deciding game in the double-elimination event, the Eagles responded with a dramatic eight-inning 5-4 win, advancing them into the Super Regionals.

Emory host Benedictine University in the Super Regionals, winning the first of the best-of-three series, 2-1.  BU stayed alive with a 1-0 triumph that knotted the series and forced another elimination game for the Eagles, where they prevailed by a 3-1 count. The game three triumph sent Emory to Salem, Virginia, to the NCAA Championships as part of an eight team field.  Emory topped St. Thomas, 3-2, in its initial encounter before enduring setbacks to eventual national champ UT-Tyler and Rowan University.

Other noteworthy achievements from 2016 included:

** Holding down the No. 5 national ranking in the final NFCA Coaches’ Top 25 Poll.

** Bringing home its seventh straight and 10th overall University Athletic Association Championship with a 10-0 won-lost record. The Eagles enjoyed a 75-26 scoring advantage over the 10 games and socked 20 home runs to the opposition’s two.  Junior pitcher Brittany File was named Most Valuable Player of the Championships.

** Blasting a school-record 49 home runs which bested the previous mark of 47 set by the 2014 team.  Emory ended the campaign No. 9 among all D-III programs with an average 0.91 round trippers per game.

**Socking 91 doubles, good for No. 2 on the school’s seasonal list.  Emory averaged 1.69 two-baggers per contest with that mark second among UAA teams.

** Ranking No. 1 in the UAA, 16^th nationally and fourth on the program’s seasonal chart with a .512 slugging percentage. 

** Closing out the season with a team ERA of 1.88, with that average 19^th in the D-III ranks.

** Holding down the No. 1 position in the conference and 23^rd nationally with an average of 7.04 runs per game.

** Establishing program season records in runs (380), hits (493), total bases (749) and walks (169).

** Finishing second on the UAA list and 44^th nationally in batting average (.337).  Emory collected 10 or more hits in 23 games during the year.

** Playing 13 regular-season games against eight teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament, fashioning a 10-3 slate in those contests.

** Seeing Brittany File land NFCA First Team All-America honors.

** Having six players bring home All-Atlantic Region accolades – File (1^st Team), Janelle Turnquest (2^nd Team), Ashley Powers (2^nd Team), Alyssa Pollard (2^nd Team), Melody Carter (2^nd Team) and Cassie Baca (3^rd Team).

** Head coach Penny Siqueiros recorded her 600^th career win following a 12-3 decision over LaGrange on April 23.  Siqueiros closed out the 2016 season with a school and career won-lost mark of 606-173-1.

Emory opened the 2016 season in impressive fashion, winning its first nine games that included an impressive 6-1 triumph over then No. 3-ranked and eventual NCAA participant DePauw.  However, tempering the fast start was a season-ending injury to senior second baseman Hannah Sendel early in the contest vs. DePauw on Feb. 21 which resulted in that game and a subsequent contest being cancelled.  After sustaining a 7-6 setback to No. 2 Salisbury at the Triangle Classic, Emory rattled off 23 straight victories, second longest in program annals, to move to 32-1 on the year. Included in the streak was home twinbill sweep of No. 18 Lake Forest College and a perfect 10-0 effort at the UAA Championships in Altamonte Springs, Florida.  File was tabbed Most Valuable Player after going 6-0 and earning a save in the circle, finishing with an ERA of 1.25 over 36 innings of work.  A bump in the road resulted in three straight setbacks, but Emory closed out regular season with a flourish, rolling to eight straight wins that gave it a 40-4 ledger heading into the postseason.

Brittany File fueled the Emory effort throughout the season, finishing with a won-lost record of 36-6 with her victory total leading all D-III hurlers and establishing a school season record. Named the UAA Player of the Year, File threw a program record 234 2/3 innings and struck out a school record 343 opposing batters, second in the D-III ranks. She averaged 10.2 strikeouts per seven frames with that mark slotting her fourth nationally. File fanned 10 or more on 14 occasions en route to being named UAA Pitcher of the Week six times.  In addition, she recorded her second career seven-inning no-hitter when she led Emory to a 7-0 win over Huntingdon College on Feb. 13.  After three years in an Emory uniform, File tops the program’s career chart in both strikeouts (660) and strikeouts per seven innings (9.77) while ranking second in wins (63) and third in innings pitched (472 2/3).

Senior Alyssa Pollard gave Emory a boost both offensively and defensively from her centerfield post, playing in 53 contests, 51 as a starter, and finishing second on the club and ninth in the UAA with a batting average of .389. Pollard a, First Team All-UAA selection, led the league with 52 runs, tying the school’s second-highest season total, and tied for the club’s lead and second on the league ladder with 63 hits, tying the school’s seventh-highest mark. Pollard produced a team-leading 18 multi-hit games, and stole a team-leading 16 bases in as many attempts. Named to the All-Atlantic Region Second Team, Pollard hung up her Emory uniform third all-time in the history of the program in games played (178), tied for ninth in starts (166), 10^th in hits (186) and tied for sixth in stolen bases (34).

Melody Carter made the most of her final collegiate campaign, seeing action in 53 games and drawing 52 starts, 38 of which came at catcher.  Carter, a First Team All-UAA choice, finished with a solid .370 effort at the plate and placed third on the team and tied for fourth among conference players with 60 hits, good for the No. 13 position on the Eagles’ seasonal listing. Her 57 RBIs were second on the club, second in the conference, 10^th nationally and the program’s sixth-highest seasonal mark. Selected to the All-Atlantic Region Second Team, she was second on the Emory score sheet in both multi-hit (17) and multi-RBI (16) contests.   Career-wise, Carter finished tied for 11^th all-time Emory with 11 home runs, was 13^th with 92 RBIs and eighth with 637 putouts.

Sophomore first baseman Ashley Powers ended the season as the team’s top hitter, checking in with a batting average of .412 that slotted her in the No. 5 spot among UAA players. The lone Eagle to have appeared in all 54 games, 52 as a starter, Powers tied for the team lead and the No. 2 position in the UAA with 63 hits (tied for 7^th on the program’s seasonal ladder) and was third on the club and in the league with seven round trippers. Powers amassed 16 multi-hit outings and knocked in two or more runs on 10 occasions, wrapping up the season with 36 RBIs, third on the team and sixth in the conference. She recorded the longest hitting streak of the year at 17 games, and played her way onto the NFCA All-Atlantic Region Second Team.

Sophomore Janelle Turnquest emerged as one of Division III’s long ball threats, registering a conference-best 12 home runs that ranked 11^th nationally and tied for fourth on the school’s seasonal chart.  A First Team All-UAA choice and a Second Team All-Region honoree, Turnquest made 34 of her 51 starts at second base and hit .333(48 of 144).  Her 64 RBIs represented the second-highest effort in the history of the program and ranked second among D-III players. She was picked to the Mount Berry Regional All-Tournament Team after hitting .333 with a pair of homers and five RBIs. She chalked up a team-leading 16 multi-RBI games, and paced the squad with a .681 slugging percentage.  

Junior Taylor Forte was a fixture in left field, playing in 52 contests and hitting .373, which placed her fourth on the team and 15^th in the league. Her team-high .470 on-base percentage helped her score 49 runs, second on the club and in the conference, and her team-high 16 two-base hits set the pace for all UAA players while tying the school’s seventh-highest seasonal mark. A Second Team All-UAA selection, Forte drew a league-high 27 walks and led Emory with four triples. 

Hannah Sendel, who saw her season cut short following her injury just seven games into the campaign, was part of a three-player senior class that included Melody Carter and Alyssa Pollard. A Second Team All-American as a sophomore and a First Team All-UAA honoree on two occasions during her career, Sendel finished second all-time at Emory in home runs (38) and slugging percentage (.784), fifth in RBIs (148) and seventh in total bases (290). 

Honors and Awards