Guckenberger Named First-Team All-Region; Van Wychen Second Team

UW-Stevens Point junior Karen Guckenberger has been named to the first-team All-Great Lakes Region softball squad for the second straight year after posting a school record 0.73 earned run average this season.

Guckenberger was joined on the squad by Pointers� junior Jill Van Wychen, who earned second-team honors as an outfielder. Guckenberger is one of three repeat selections on the first team along with University of Chicago utility player Kelly Ostler and Carroll catcher Eva Klamann, who is Guckenberger�s former high school teammate at South Milwaukee High School.

Guckenberger, who also earned WIAC Pitcher of the Year accolades, had a 0.73 earned run average, allowing just 15 earned runs in 144 1/3 innings pitched. Her season featured a streak of 32 consecutive scoreless innings, which ranks second in WIAC history behind the first 33.1 innings of her collegiate career. She now holds two of the top three single-season earned run averages in WIAC history after posting a 0.78 ERA as a sophomore.

Guckenberger finished with a school-record 143 strikeouts and just 20 walks. The single-season strikeout total was the sixth-highest in WIAC history and gives her 382 for her career, which ranks fourth in conference history, despite playing just three seasons. She also holds school records for career wins with 45 and saves with 11.

Van Wychen, a Kaukauna native and Freedom High School graduate, led the WIAC with a  .439 average, which was the third-highest single-season average in Pointer history. She finished 47-for-107 with 28 runs scored, five doubles and seven RBI�s. Van Wychen had hits in 27 of the team�s 31 games this season and has reached base with a hit in 47 of her last 53 games.