Sanger's Morgan Turkoly among Who’s Who of college softball
RUSTON, La. – People around Louisiana Tech and Conference USA have known about Lady Techster softball outfielder Morgan Turkoly for four years.
Now the nation is taking notice.
Turkoly, the reigning Conference USA Player of the Year, was named one of 10 finalists for the 2019 Senior CLASS Award® on Wednesday, joining a list of the Who’s Who of the elite in college softball.
To be eligible for the award, student-athletes must be classified as NCAA Division I seniors and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
The Sanger, Texas, native was named one of 30 semifinalists in early March. She joins nine of the top Division I softball student-athletes in the list of finalists, including Taran Alvelo (Washington), Kelly Barnhill (Florida), Faith Canfield (Michigan), Meghan King (Florida State), Aubrey Leach (Tennessee), Amanda Lorenz (Florida), Riley Randolph (FGCU), Katie Reed (Kentucky) and Sydney Romero (Oklahoma).
The finalists were chosen by national media from the list of 30 candidates announced earlier this season. Nationwide fan voting begins immediately to help select the winner, and fans are encouraged to submit votes online at the Senior CLASS Award website through May 20.
Fan votes will be combined with those of the media and Division I head coaches to determine the winner. The Senior CLASS Award recipient for softball will be announced prior to the 2019 NCAA Women’s College World Series® in Oklahoma City, May 30 through June 5.
Turkoly will end her LA Tech career as one of the most decorated players in program history, both athletically and academically. She is a three-time all-conference selection, a three-time all-region honoree and a three-time all-state recipient through the first three years of her collegiate career.
She was named the 2018 Conference USA Player of the Year as a junior and was the preseason player of the year selection for 2019 by the league coaches. In the past two weeks she has become the program’s career leader in runs scored and walks and ranks in the top 10 in numerous other statistical categories, including batting average, on-base percentage, hits and RBI.
In the classroom, she boasts a 3.71 grade point average in accounting and earned her degree this past winter quarter. She is a three-time Conference USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll honoree and a three-time C-USA Academic Medalist. She was named to the C-USA Softball All-Academic team the past two seasons.
The three-year team captain has spent plenty of time giving back to the community as well. Turkoly was the recipient of the C-USA Spirit of Service Award in Spring of 2018. She has been a part of 4-Paws rescue, Boys and Girls Club of Ruston and DART (Domestic Abuse Resistance Team) Pumpkin Patch. She is a Puerta Vallarta School volunteer and Puerta Vallarta Softball Clinic volunteer. She has also helped with the Super One Radio-thon Food Drive, Christmas community service (Angel Tree through DART) and Hot Halloween Happenings with Beta Alpha Psi. She also returned to her alma mater, Sanger High School, and spoke to the student-athletes about what it takes to be successful on the college level.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their athletic platforms to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
For more information on each of the finalists, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.
Timeline:
Preseason: Named to the USA Softball Preseason Top 50 Watch List for national player of the year ... Named the preseason Conference USA Player of the Year by league coaches ... Named preseason second team all-American by Justin’s World of Softball ... Named preseason honorable mention all-American by Fastpitch News ...
2018: Named the Conference USA Player of the Year (only the 2nd Tech player to earn a league player of the year award) ... Named 1st Team all-CUSA ... Named 1st team all-Mideast Region by the NFCA ... Named 1st team all-state by the LSWA ... Named 4th team all-American by College Sports Madness ... Named to the Puerta Vallarta Collegiate Challenge All-Tournament Team ... Named to the C-USA Softball All-Academic Team ... Named a C-USA Academic Medalist ... Named to the C-USA Commissioners Honor Roll ... Named the C-USA Spirit of Service Award winner (spring sports) ... Started all 57 games in left field (one of only two players to start every game) ... Batted .409 with 65 hits in 159 at bats ... Totaled 13 doubles, one triple and four home runs ... Scored 46 runs and drove in 26 ... Drew 41 walks and struck out only 11 times ... Was 18-fo-22 in stolen bases ... Ended the season with a program record 43-game reach base safely streak, third longest in the country ... Became just the third player in program history to hit over .400 in a season ... Had 18 multi-hit games ... Ranked Top 20 in nation in OB% and Top 35 in walks per game ... +30 in BB/K ratio (41/11), best in C-USA ... Set LA Tech single season record for OB % ... Batted .356 in 14 games vs. Top 75 RPI teams ... Had 2 home runs and 7 RBI in a win over Charlotte (the 7 RBI tied for second most in a single game in program history) ...
2017: Named 1st Team All-CUSA .... Named 3rd Team All-Mideast Region (NFCA) ... Named 2nd Team all-state by the LSWA ... Named C-USA Player of the Week (April 10) ... Named LSWA State Hitter of the Week (April 10) ... Named College Sports Madness C-USA Player of the Week (April 10) ... Earned a spot on the C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll ... Was a C-USA Academic Medalist ... Voted to the C-USA Softball All-Academic Team, the first LA Tech softball player to receive this award .... Started 48 games in left field, missing 14 games with a fractured knuckle ... Batted .370 with 51 hits in 138 at bat ... Recorded 12 doubles, 2 triples and 3 home runs with 35 runs and 41 RBI ... Drew 26 walks and struck out only 11 times strikeouts ... Was 10 of 17 stolen bases ... Reached base safely in 42 of 45 games ... Ranked among C-USA leaders in BA, doubles, runs, RBI, walks, slugging and on-base percentage ... Recorded 10 multi-hit games and 10 multi-RBI games ... Had a pair of 17-games reached base safely streaks ... Registered 7 game-winning RBI, includingna two-out, RBI single in B10th in 1-0 win over WKU in C-USA Tournament ... Became first LA Tech player to earn all-conference, all-academic, academic medalist and Commissioner’s honor roll in same season
2016: Named second team all-Conference USA ... Named second team all-Louisiana ... Named third team all-Region ... Named to the Conference USA all-Freshman team ... Named to the Conference USA all-Tournament team ... Received the Conference USA Commissioners Academic Medal ... Named to the Conference USA Commissioners Honor Roll ... Started all 54 games for the Lady Techsters ... Led the Lady Techsters with 55 hits, 43 RBI and a .433 on-base percentage ... Set the Louisiana Tech freshman record for runs (43), total bases (95), home runs (10), RBI (43), walks (27) and slugging percentage (.576) ... Also batted .333 on the season ... Homered in four consecutive games, one against SEC oppoenent Mississippi State ... Blasted a home run against SEC-power and WCWS participant LSU ... Registered four RBIs in a game against Tennessee Tech ... Delivered a crucial two-RBI single in Louisiana Tech’s win over nationally-ranked Florida Atlantic ... Registered in RBI in eight consecutive games during the month of April ... Recorded 14 multi-hit games and 12 multi-RBI games ... Had a team-high 12-game hitting streak in late February that stretched until early March ... 19 of her 55 hits went for extra bases ... Was the only Lady Techster to record double-digit stolen bases and not be caught stealing ... Registered a team-high 10 game-winning RBI for Louisiana Tech in 2016 ... In four games against SEC-opponent, Turkoly drove in five runs ... Scored multiple runs in a game 12 times ... Batted .333 in Conference USA action, which ranked second on the team.
High School: Lettered four years at Sanger High School in Texas ... Played shortstop and outfield for coach Jae McMinn and the Indians ... Helped lead Sanger to three straight district titles (2012, 2013, 2014) and a pair of regional semifinal appearances (2013, 2014) ... Batted .565 as a junior with 11 doubles, seven triples, 11 home runs, 43 RBI and 39 runs scored ... Three-time first team all-District 9-3A ... Three-time all-area by the Denton Record Chronicle ... Named Offensive Player of the Year in District 9-3A in 2013 ... Two-time all-state by the Texas Girls Coaches Association ... Named MVP of District 9-3A in 2014 ... Named all-area MVP by the Denton Record Chronicle in 2014 ... Named all-DFW and all-Metroplex by the Dallas Morning News in 2014 ... Also a four-year letterwinner in volleyball ... Named first team all-district and all-state by the TGCA in volleyball in 2013 ... Member of the National Honor Society and was three-time Academic All-District ... Played travel ball for Kevin Shelton and the Texas Glory Gold.
Personal: Daughter of David and Stacy Turkoly ... Has two sisters, Maci and Kenzie ... Father played baseball at Centenary College and mother played basketball at Midwestern State ... Born March 22, 1997 in Denton, Texas.