WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Often celebrated for her accomplishments on the diamond, junior Lilly Fecho garnered Academic All-District V accolades for her prowess on and off the field on Thursday, making her eligible for Academic All-America honors.
The two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection boasts a 3.75 grade-point average in her mathematics major. She is Purdue's ninth all-district selection since 2009. The Boilers' most recent honoree was Andie Varsho, a two-time all-district and two-time Academic All-America selection, earning third team honors in 2013 and first team accolades in 2014.
Fecho has rewritten the Purdue strikeout records in 2015, setting a new standard for both single game and season K's. The second team All-Big Ten selection set the school game record with 19 strikeouts against Florida Gulf Coast, Feb. 20 and also has broken the school season record for strikeouts with 285 thus far in 2015.
The league's Big Ten Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 23 has seen action in 42 games, starting 36, posting a 20-16 record and one save with a school record 285 strikeouts and a 1.98 ERA in 236.2 innings pitched. Fecho threw a complete-game no-hitter against Indiana State, April 29 and has tossed four complete-game one-hitters (vs. #24 Texas A&M, vs. Indiana State and twice vs. Wisconsin). The Carol Stream, Ill., native has struck out five or more batters in 28 games, including 10 or more in 12 contests , while holding opposing batters to a .195 average. She ranks ninth nationally in strikeouts (280), 31st in strikeouts per seven innings (8.5), 39th in hits allowed per seven innings (5.03), 40th in wins (19) and 44th in ERA (1.98). Among Big Ten players, Fecho ranks first in looking strikeouts (66) and innings pitched, second in strikeouts, third in opponent batting average, fourth in ERA and tied for fourth in wins. In Big Ten play, she ranked first in innings pitched (105), third in looking strikeouts (29) and strikeouts (115), fourth in opponent batting average (.221) and fifth in ERA (2.53). Fecho also has moved up the Purdue career pitching listings, ranking third in complete games (62) and strikeouts (588) and fourth in innings pitched (616).
First-team Academic All-District honorees advance to the Capital One Academic All-America Team ballot, from which first-, second- and third-team All-America honorees will be selected later this month. The full list of Academic All-District softball honorees is here.
The Boilermakers (31-24) topped No. 5 seed Illinois on Thursday to advance to the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals, where they will face No. 4 seed Northwestern at noon Friday, live on the Big Ten Network.