LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Saint Anselm Senior Morgan Perry received the nation's highest pitching honor on Thursday, picking up Schutt Sports/National Fastpitch Coaches' Association Division II Pitcher of the Year plaudits.
The most decorated pitcher in Saint Anselm softball history, Perry won D2CCA Ron Lenz National Pitcher of the Year honors last week and was a two-time D2CCA East Region Pitcher of the Year (2019, 2021). Additionally, she collected NFCA First Team All-America honors on May 25 and was a First Team All-Region selection by the same organization.
Within the Northeast-10 Conference, Perry has won the league's Pitcher of the Year honor twice (2019, 2021) and helped Saint Anselm win its third consecutive Northeast Division Regular Season Championship. The Hawks have also won the program's first two Northeast-10 Conference postseason titles with her assistance (2019, 2021). In the last four seasons, the Hawks own a 134-34-1 (.796) overall record.
In 2021, Perry posted a 1.01 earned-run average across 138.2 innings of work, winning 20 of her 23 starts for Saint Anselm. Striking out 222 batters on the season, she fired 12 shutouts, registered two no-hitters and tallied the program's first-ever perfect game.
She began the season with 19 wins in 19 starts, logging an 0.48 earned-run average and 209 strikeouts in her first 116 innings pitched. In her first five starts alone, she pitched 33 innings and allowed no earned runs, striking out 73 batters – she threw a no-hitter in her team's season debut, her first start in 378 days.
In the NE10 Tournament, Perry yielded just three runs and struck out 27 batters to lift Saint Anselm to its second NE10 postseason championship on May 14. Due to her effort in that tournament, Perry was named to the All-Tournament Team shortly after earning the second NE10 Northeast Division Pitcher of the Year award in her career.
Allowing three earned runs or more on just three occasions, including once to the eventual NCAA Division II National Champions from West Texas A&M last week, Perry limited her opposition to two or less runs in 20 starts. In total, she registered 12 starts with 10 or more strikeouts, including a season-high 18 against Saint Michael's on Apr. 23.
She capped the season ranked within the top-10 nationally in several statistics, including hits allowed per seven innings (4.04 – sixth), strikeouts (222 – sixth), earned-run average (1.01 – ninth), WHIP (0.85 – ninth), and complete games (20 – 10th).
Off the field, Perry was a key part of the College's athletics COVID-19 response. A Nursing major on the Hilltop, she was one of a select group of student-athletes hired to provide assistance with the student-athlete NCAA surveillance testing program. Regularly waking up at six in the morning for 7 a.m. testing, Perry helped to ensure the safety of student-athletes across the College's 17 varsity sports during the spring semester.
Perry made her collegiate debut for the Hawks in the 2017 season, securing her first collegiate victory against Southern New Hampshire on Apr. 13. The very next season in 2018, Perry propelled the Hawks to the NCAA Division II East Region Championship and won 26 games – Saint Anselm finished as the National Runner-Up that year, the first varsity program at the College to accomplish that feat.
Perry wraps up an illustrious career with program records in career pitching victories (87), appearances (122), starts (114), complete games (80), shutouts (37), innings pitched (704.2) and strikeouts (776). She is also the NE10's career leader in victories, fourth in strikeouts and seventh in innings pitched.
- Release Courtesy of Saint Anselm Athletic Communications
ABOUT THE NE10
The NE10 is an association of 14 diverse institutions serving student-athletes across 24 NCAA Division II sports. Together we build brilliant futures by embracing the journey of every student-athlete.
Each year, 4,500 student-athletes compete in conference championships, making the NE10 the largest DII conference in the country in terms of sport sponsorship. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the NE10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.
