Kirsten Verdun Named to Capital One Academic All-America Team
5/22/2014 12:00:00 AM | SOFTBALL
May 22, 2014
TOWSON, Md. - DePaul softball's Kirsten Verdun was rewarded for her strong performance in the classroom on Thursday, as the ace pitcher was named to the 2014 Capital One Academic All-America Third Team for the first time in her career.
The Coal City, Ill.-native carries a 3.59 GPA as a communication and media major, while also pursuing a minor in applied psychology.
One of the most decorated players in DePaul softball history, Verdun is the first pitcher in program history to ever accumulate 900-innings with 900-plus strikeouts and 100 or more wins. She finished her career last Sunday standing first all-time at DePaul in starts, strikeouts looking and batters faced, while finishing second in the record books in wins, strikeouts, innings pitched, appearances and complete games.
During her senior season, she put up 33 wins to tie the single-season school record and rank third in the nation. Verdun finished the year with a 1.76 ERA, 33-7 record and 299 strikeouts in 251 innings pitched, leading the Blue Demons to BIG EAST Conference regular season and tournament titles as well as the eighth NCAA Tournament Regional Final in program history.
Individually, Verdun was named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year in addition to earning Most Outstanding Player honors at the BIG EAST Championships. This season, she was also named NFCA Great Lakes All-Region First Team and First Team All-BIG EAST - both for the fourth time in her career.
Verdun threw two no-hitters in the month of April, getting her first career no-no on April 5 in a six-inning win against Seton Hall. She came back on April 27 to get another, beating Villanova in a dominant five innings.
The last Blue Demon to earn Academic All-American recognition was Amber Patton, who was a second-teamer in 2009. Verdun becomes the 11th player in program history to achieve the honor.
Since 1952, the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) has honored more than 20,000 outstanding student-athletes with this prestigious award, which became known as the Capital One Academic All-America® in 2011. To be nominated, a student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.30 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) and sophomore athletic eligibility.
About Capital One
Capital One Financial Corporation (www.capitalone.com) is a financial holding company whose subsidiaries, which include Capital One, N.A., and Capital One Bank (USA), N. A., had $206.9 billion in deposits and $289.9 billion in total assets as of September 30, 2013. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One offers a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients through a variety of channels. Capital One, N.A. has more than 900 branch locations primarily in New York, New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. A Fortune 500 company, Capital One trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "COF" and is included in the S&P 100 index.
