Three student-athletes from the Marian University softball program have been named Academic All-District by the organization College Sports Communicators (CSC).
The CSC Academic All-American program recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their efforts both in competition and in the classroom. To be eligible, a student-athlete must compete in 90 percent of their team’s games, or start in at least 66 percent of games, and attain a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.5. They must also hold at least sophomore standing at their institution. Pitchers must have made at least 17 appearances or logged at least 35 innings.
Junior Mackenzie Christofferson (Lodi, Wis.) earns her first selection after a breakout season at the plate. Christofferson was a Second Team All-NACC selection after hitting .361 on the season with 43 base hits, 10 of which were doubles. She also drove in 18 runs on the season. Christofferson was held without a hit in only 10 games this season posting multiple base knocks in 11 games. She had back-to-back three-hit performances in game two against Wisconsin Lutheran and in game one against Lakeland. Christofferson had a 10-game hitting streak during the season spanning from April 11 to April 21. During a twin bill against Dominican, Christofferson went a combined 4-for-7 with two runs driven in and a run scored. Christofferson closed out the season with a pair of multi-hit performances at the NACC Tournament including a 2-for-3 performance against CUC where both of her hits were doubles.
Junior Sabrina Di Vito (Prospect Heights, Ill.) is named a CSC Academic All-District honoree for the second straight season after once again proving to be a dual-threat for the Sabres. Di Vito was once again the top arm for Marian in the circle posting a 9-9 record with a 3.08 earned run average over 111.1 innings of work. She also earned a save and struck out 53 hitters while holding opponent hitters to a .279 batting average. Di Vito nearly tossed a no-hitter against Edgewood allowing just one hit in her first shutout of the season. Her second shutout then came in the NACC Tournament against Concordia Chicago where she allowed just three hits. Di Vito also had the first double-digit strikeout performance of her career fanning 10 against Lawrence where she only allowed two hits over 7.0 innings. At the plate, Di Vito had 10 base hits with four being doubles. She also scored seven runs and drove in another seven.
Senior Carissa Heisdorf (Campbellsport, Wis.) had a strong final season to earn CSC Academic All-District recognition for the first time. Heisdorf was the only Sabre to start in all 40 games this season and ranked fifth on the squad with a .308 batting average. She also ranked fourth on the team with 18 runs scored and fifth on the squad after driving in 15 runs. Heisdorf had eight multi-hit performances on the season and closed out the year with a hit in nine of the final 10 games of the season. One of her top performances of the season came in the opener against CUW where she was 2-for-4 and hit a walk-off two-run homer to spark a sweep of the Falcons. Defensively, she posted a .926 fielding percentage manning shortstop the entire season and was a part of three double plays.
This is the third time in the past four seasons Marian softball has had three CSC Academic All-District selections. The full release, along with more information on the CSC Academic All-American program, can be found at https://academicallamerica.com/index.aspx.
