Chirichigno Earns Pac-12 Academic 1st-Team
CORVALLIS – Senior infielder CJ Chirichigno headlined a group of three Oregon State softball players to earn Pac-12 academic honors, the conference office announced on Thursday.
Chirichigno earned Pac-12 All-Academic First Team honors, posting a 3.74 GPA as a Pre-Communication major. Redshirt-sophomore Natalie Hampton and senior Kori Nishitomi earned academic honorable mention.
Chirichigno started all 101 games the Beavers played since joining the program as a transfer in 2013. She batted .329 in her senior campaign, hitting nine homers and driving in 35 runs. She posted a pair of multi-homer games on the season (vs. Saint Mary’s and Arizona State) and scored 39 runs. She finished her collegiate career with a batting average over .300 and a total of 16 home runs.
Hampton made her mark on the team, after rejoining the squad late in the nonconference schedule due to injury. Despite missing part of the season, the Fisheries and Wildlife Science major slugged .513, and hit six homer to go along with four doubles. For her efforts, Hampton earned Pac-12 All-Conference Honorable Mention. Her season was highlighted by a two-homer performance against Washington on May 3.
Nishitomi, a Mathematics major, hit .267 on the season in 37 appearances, notching four doubles and a triple. She etched her name into the Oregon State record book in her junior campaign, recording a .390 batting average, the ninth-highest in school history.
