Southwestern Athletic Conference

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – In a vote conducted among the league's coaches and sports information directors, Alcorn State first baseman Taylor Hughes was voted as the 2017 SWAC Player and Hitter of the Year as the Southwestern Athletic Conference announced its 2017 All-Conference Softball teams and individual award winners.

The respective division champions took home most of the individual hardware for the 2017 season. Along with Hughes, the Eastern Division champion Lady Braves saw Jessica Crum earn the 2017 SWAC Newcomer of the Year award. For Western Division champion Texas Southern, Jasmin Fulmore was selected Pitcher of the Year and Madilynn Marek garnered Freshman of the Year honors. Prairie View A&M coach Vernon Bland was named Coach of the Year.

Hughes was second in the league in hitting (.406) with 36 runs batted in, collecting a league-leading 15 doubles and scoring a conference-best 36 runs as well. She was the only player in the conference with at least 35 hits, runs scored and runs batted in and was dominant in league play, hitting .491 against conference opposition and driving in 20 runs, which led all players from a league-play production standpoint.

Fulmore, a Federal Way, Wash. native, posted a 9-3 overall record and a sparkling 1.80 ERA for the league's top pitching staff. The junior struck out 76 hitters in 81.2 innings of work. Fulmore was 7-1 in league play, with a 2.04 ERA and a conference-high 51 strikeouts against league opponents. She also had a stretch where she pitched 29 consecutive innings without giving up an earned run between March 18 and April 8.

Crum finished with a .395 batting average – third in the league – mashing nine home runs and plating 48 runs while amassing 49 hits (14 doubles) on the year. The junior from Prairieville, La. posted 12 games of at least two RBI, as she emerged as perhaps the most dangerous bat in a Lady Braves lineup that finished ranked in the top three of several offensive categories this season.

Marek immediately provided offensive production for the Lady Tigers in her maiden season, hitting .366 with 30 hits, 20 RBI, eight doubles, two home runs and a team-best .537 slugging percentage and .465 on-base percentage.

Bland guided the Lady Panthers to a 19-26 overall record (11-7 SWAC) during the 2017 campaign, a nine-win improvement overall from last season. PVAMU also improved by four games in conference play from last season. Prairie View's 19 wins are the second-most ever by the team under Bland's direction, and the Lady Panthers field the SWAC's second-ranked offense in terms of league play statistics, and the second-ranked team defense.

Prairie View A&M led all teams with six total selections. Alcorn State garnered five all-SWAC nods, and Alabama State and Texas Southern each picked up four All-Conference slots. Arkansas-Pine Bluff saw two players earn all-league consideration, and Jackson State, Mississippi Valley State and Southern each had one All-SWAC selection. The full teams are listed below.