For the second consecutive year, Pacific’s Nikki Armagost was named Big West Offensive Player of the Year, while teammate Nicole Matson took home honors as the Big West Defensive Player of the Year to highlight the announcement of the 2012 softball all-conference team.

UC Santa Barbara also earned a pair of awards with this year’s Big West Freshman Field Player of the Year, Shelby Wisdom, and Brie Galicinao earning her second career Big West Coach of the Year honor. Justine Vela of UC Davis was recognized as both Big West Pitcher of the Year and Freshman Pitcher of the Year.
 
Armagost garnered her second Offensive Player of the Year award in three seasons as a Tiger. The Andover, Kan. native led the league with her .433 batting average, while ranking third in runs scored (35), second in hits (71) and RBI (38), and first in doubles (18) and total bases (104). With her 18 doubles on the season, the junior tied for seventh in the Big West single season record book.  In addition, her .433 average was the seventh-best performance in a Big West single season.
 
Claiming her first Defensive Player of the Year recognition, Matson is just the second recipient of this Big West award. The senior made 54 appearances for the Tigers this season with a .945 overall fielding percentage. Matson spent most of her time at shortstop, recording the third-highest league mark of 121 assists and totaling 108 putouts. She had one of the highest fielding percentages in the conference with only 13 errors in her 237 chances.  Matson improved even further in conference play with just three errors and recorded a .962 fielding percentage. Over the final five series, Matson committed only one error and finished perfect in the field in the final 13 games.
 
Vela is the first Aggie to be recognized for Big West Pitcher of the Year and Freshman Pitcher of the Year, and the third player in league history to capture both awards in the same season.  The other two came from Long Beach State with Erin Jones-Wesley (2011) and Brooke Turner (2008) achieving the feat. The right-hander led the league with 272 strikeouts and ranked second in opponent batting average (.206), while posting a 20-13 record and 2.10 ERA in the circle. The freshman’s phenomenal numbers placed her fifth on the Big West single season strikeout list as well as ranking her No. 15 nationally.
 
Wisdom had a standout freshman season for UC Santa Barbara as a two-way player. A native of Elk Grove, Calif., Wisdom collected her program’s first Freshman Field Player of the Year award.  At the plate she hit .271 with five home runs, 19 runs scored and 22 RBI.  In the circle, Wisdom was dominant as she led the league in wins (24), innings pitched (266.2), games started (37) and appearances (50). Wisdom led the Gauchos in supreme fashion pitching her first career no-hitter against Cal State Northridge in the final series this season.  Wisdom dented the Big West record book as her 50 appearances are second-most in a single-season.  Her exploits also allowed her to set UCSB single-season records for wins and strikeouts while ranking No. 2 in innings pitched.
 
Leading the Gauchos to their best conference finish since 2008 when they placed second to Long Beach State, Brie Galicinao is recognized as the Big West Coach of the Year. This is her second recognition after sharing the honor with Kim Sowder of Long Beach State in 2008. The Gauchos finished 30-28 overall and finished 15-6 in Big West play for second place.  The 15 wins represented an improvement from last year’s total of 11.  In her fifth season with UCSB, she is the program’s first to capture the top award twice and only the second coach overall to be recognized, joining Kristy Schroeder in 2002. Since taking the helm in 2008, Galicinao has recorded a 54-51 conference record (.514) while her 124 career wins place her in the Big West’s top-20 all-time.
 
Long Beach State, UC Davis and Pacific combined for 10 of the 14 All-Big West first team selections, with Pacific leading the way with five. Pacific’s Armagost and Megan Hom received their third consecutive all-conference first team honor, while teammates Nicole Matson and Kelsey Rodriguez were rewarded for the second time in their careers.  Erin Jones-Wesley and Taylor Petty of Long Beach State and UC Riverside’s Kayla White also became two-time recipients.  The rest of the 2012 Big West All-Conference teams are listed below:

2012 BIG WEST SOFTBALL ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM

FIRST TEAM
Player	School	Pos	B-T	Ht.	Year	Hometown
^Erin Jones-Wesley	Long Beach State	P	R-R	5-8	Sophomore	Alta Loma, Calif.
Taylor Petty	Long Beach State	P	R-R	5-5	Senior	San Pedro, Calif.
Justine Vela	UC Davis	P	R-R	5-5	Freshman	Bakersfield, Calif.
Shelby Wisdom	UC Santa Barbara	P	R-R	5-5	Freshman	Elk Grove, Calif.
Rachel Miller	UC Davis	C	R-R	5-10	Senior	Costa Mesa, Calif.
+Nikki Armagost	Pacific	1B	L-R	5-8	Junior	Andover, Kan.
Cya Neal	Long Beach State	2B	R-R	5-2	Junior	Whittier, Calif.
^Nicole Matson	Pacific	SS	R-R	5-11	Senior	Castaic, Calif.
Nicole Johnson	Cal State Fullerton	3B	R-R	5-7	Senior	Canyon Country, Calif.
Ashley Carter	Cal State Fullerton	OF	L-R	5-4	Junior	Fontana, Calif.
+Megan Hom	Pacific	OF	L-R	5-7	Junior	Irvine, Calif.
Jessica Soria	UC Santa Barbara	OF	R-R	5-9	Junior	Simi Valley, Calif.
^Kayla White	UC Riverside	OF	R-R	5-5	Junior	San Jose, Calif.
^Kelsey Rodriguez	Pacific	UT	R-R	5-6	Sophomore	Scottsdale, Ariz.
^Kelsey Rodriguez	Pacific	DP	R-R	5-6	Sophomore	Scottsdale, Ariz.
SECOND TEAM
Player	School	Pos	B-T	Ht.	Year	Hometown
Nikki Armagost	Pacific	P	L-R	5-8	Junior	Andover, Kan.
Mia Pagano	Cal State Northridge	P	R-R	5-8	Junior	Temecula, Calif.
Tori Shepard	Pacific	P	R-R	5-10	Sophomore	Lodi, Calif.
Alexis Pickett	UC Riverside	C	L-R	5-5	Junior	Fairfield, Calif.
Anissa Young	Cal State Fullerton	1B	R-R	5-6	Senior	Fontana, Calif.
Alexa Rivera	Pacific	2B	L-R	5-4	Senior	Sacramento, Calif.
Kim Westlund	Cal Poly	SS	L-R	5-6	Sophomore	Brentwood, Calif.
Hannah De Gaetano	Long Beach State	3B	R-R	5-4	Sophomore	San Pedro, Calif.
Leesa Harris	Cal State Fullerton	OF	L-R	5-2	Sophomore	Los Angeles, Calif.
Taylor Petty	Pacific	OF	R-R	5-4	Sophomore	Porter, Tex.
Leilani Tupua-Tautalatasi	Long Beach State	OF	L-R	5-3	Freshman	Oxnard, Calif.
Karli Sandoval	Long Beach State	UT	R-R	5-7	Sophomore	Riverside, Calif.
Karli Sandoval	Long Beach State	DP	R-R	5-7	Sophomore	Riverside, Calif.
HONORABLE MENTION
Player	School	Pos	B-T	Ht.	Year	Hometown
Desiree Ybarra	Cal State Fullerton	P	L-L	5-7	Freshman	Riverside, Calif.
Lainey DePompa	UC Santa Barbara	C	R-R	5-9	Senior	Glendale, Calif.
Amy Moore	Pacific	C	R-R	5-7	Junior	Valencia, Calif.
Adriana Martinez	Cal State Fullerton	2B	L-R	5-3	Senior	Antelope, Calif.
Kathryn Pilpil	UC Santa Barbara	2B	L-R	5-3	Sophomore	Oxnard, Calif.
Keilani Jennings	UC Santa Barbara	SS	R-R	5-7	Junior	Newbury Park, Calif.
Shayna Kimbrough	Long Beach State	SS	L-R	5-4	Freshman	Oxnard, Calif.
Kaylie Atkinson	UC Riverside	3B	R-R	5-10	Freshman	Lancaster, Calif.
Megan Denio	Long Beach State	OF	L-R	5-2	Senior	Tustin, Calif.
Ariel Shore	UC Riverside	OF	L-R	5-4	Junior	San Dimas, Calif.
Nora Sobczak	Cal Poly	OF	L-R	5-7	Senior	Thousand Oaks, Calif.
Jenessa Jeppesen	UC Santa Barbara	UT	R-R	5-10	Freshman	El Dorado Hills, Calif.
Kim Westlund	Cal Poly	UT	L-R	5-6	Sophomore	Brentwood, Calif.
Allison Taylor	UC Santa Barbara	DP	R-R	5-7	Senior	Orange, Calif.
Morgan LeMond	Cal State Fullerton	DP	R-R	5-6	Senior	Moreno Valley, Calif.
^ - Two-time first team All-Conference selection
+ - Three-time first team All-Conference selection