May 9, 2012

Mussatti, Messina, Springer, All-NEC

Rebecca Mussatti, Nicole Springer and Laura Messina earned post season honors from the NEC.

Central Connecticut senior Rebecca Mussatti was named First Team All-Northeast Conference on Thursday morning. Junior Nicole Springer and freshman Laura Messina both earned spots on the second team. The trio helped lead the Blue Devils (31-19, 11-9 NEC) to a new school record for victories in a season.

Mussatti started 39 games in centerfield for the Blue Devils in her final season. She hit .357 with 40 hits, seven doubles, six triples and a home run. She also drove in 22 runs and scored 31, while stealing 14 bases in 15 attempts. In NEC play, Mussatti hit .417 with 15 hits over 12 games before suffering a season ending injury.

Her totals for steals and triples both topped the NEC this year.

Springer earned Second Team All-NEC honors in her first season with the Blue Devils. The first baseman, hit .319 on the season and .377 in conference play. Springer brought power to the Blue Devil line-up in 2012, she tied CCSU single-season records with 10 home runs and 45 runs batted in. Also, her RBI total led the NEC.

In NEC play, she launched five homers and drove in 21 runs. Over her 20 conference games she posted an on-base percentage of .458 and a slugging percentage of .672.

Messina completed a tremendous first season in the circle for the Blue Devils in which she broke three records and tied another. Messina won a CCSU 22 games, six more than the previous record of 14. She also pitched a record 219.2 innings and struck out a record 207 batters, 77 more than the previous record. She tied the school record for appearances by pitching in 35 games, 32 starts, she also pitched 26 complete games. Messina posted a 2.01 earned run average and limited opponents to a .216 batting average against.

Mussatti was also an All-NEC selection during her sophomore year and Springer was a two-time All-Conference selection in the America East before transferring to Central this season.

The Blue Devils won a school record 31 games in 2012. The season was the first 30-win campaign in program history and also marked the first time that the softball program posted back-to-back 20+ win seasons.

The previous record for wins in a season was 29 by the 2011 squad. The 2005, 2011 and 2012 teams share the school record for NEC victories with 11.

NEC All-Conference Release