Five Western Kentucky softball players earned Conference USA recognition Tuesday, led by catcher Kendall Smith’s first-team all-conference selection.

Kelsey Aikey, Shannon Plese and Jordan Vorbrink all collected second-team honors. Kennedy Sullivan earned an all-freshman team nod.

“After being tabbed to finish seventh in the Preseason Poll with zero All-Conference selections, this is a true testament to how hard these athletes have worked and how well they performed,” coach Amy Tudor said in a news release. “I’m extremely proud of each young lady for their accomplishment.”

After earning conference all-tournament team honors as a freshman, Smith followed with a stellar sophomore campaign to become the Hilltoppers’ first first-team selection since Miranda Kramer and Larissa Franklin in 2015.

Smith put up big numbers across the regular season starting with her slash line of .333/.432/.674.

A Bowling Green native, Smith leads the Hilltoppers in home runs with 12 in addition to eight doubles and a triple. She racked up a team-best 91 total bases on 45 hits while starting all 49 games.

The former Warren East High School star’s numbers behind the plate are just as impressive. She owns 386 putouts, 29 assists and a .990 fielding percentage while throwing out eight runners and picking off another.

In the circle, Aikey became the first Hilltopper to collect any sort of all-conference honors since the 2015 campaign.

Aikey led the league in strikeouts (174), opposing batting average (.183), hits allowed per seven innings (4.60), strikeouts per seven innings (9.6) and saves (six).

The Cedar Falls, Iowa, native is one of three pitchers across the nation – and only one in the league – with at least 14 wins and six saves. Aikey’s 2.22 overall ERA ranks second across all C-USA pitchers with at least 100+ innings thrown.

From the outfield, WKU saw seniors Plese and Vorbrink each earned second-team all-conference honors in their final campaigns.

Plese racked up a .349/.429/.591 slash line while connecting for 11 doubles, two triples and seven home runs. She scored a team-best 38 runs off 52 hits while registering 34 RBIs.

The Knoxville, Tenn., native racked up 19 stolen bases in 22 attempts. She also notched 56 putouts and an assist.

Vorbrink slashed a line of .339/.456/.464. She started 44 games while notching 38 hits, 19 runs and 14 RBIs. In C-USA-only action, Vorbrink put up a .393 batting average while fielding her position perfectly.

Tudor saw the Hilltoppers earn an all-freshman selection for the fifth-straight season with Sullivan’s honor.

Sullivan had a 16-4 record in the circle and a .286 batting average. The Georgetown native worked 124 2/3 innings in the circle while recording 165 strikeouts – the second most in the league behind Aikey.

She closed the regular season with a 3.14 ERA, nine complete-game outings, four complete-game shutouts and a save. Opposing batters hit just .200 against the rookie.

In the box, Sullivan tallied 38 hits, 22 runs scored, 11 doubles, four home runs and 30 RBIs. She slashed .286/.301/.459.

Sullivan’s seven sacrifice flies on the season rank second across the country.{&end}