Merrimack's Giovannini, Gosselin Garner NFCA All-Region Second Team Accolades

The following was submitted by Brad Davis of

Monique Gosselin of Lawrence and Jaclyn Giovannini of Plano, Texas, of the Merrimack softball team, both earned spots on the Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association NCAA Division II All-Region second team.

The duo helped the Warriors to a 31-23 overall record in 2011 with a 20-10 mark in the Northeast-10 Conference. As the No. 3 seed in the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament, Merrimack advanced to the finals in search of its first tournament crown since 2002. The Warriors suffered a pair of losses to Southern Connecticut State in the final round.

This spring Merrimack returned to the NCAA Tournament for the 13th time in program history. The Warriors received an at-large berth to the tournament and the No. 8 seed in the East Region. Merrimack claimed the East Region 1 title and came up just short of reaching the NCAA College World Series as it fell to C.W. Post in the Super Regional series.

Gosselin finished the season with 17 home runs, one shy of tying the program’s all-time single-season record of 18. She batted .315 on the year and slugged .732 while starting all 54 games in centerfield. The junior co-captain drove in 42 runs and crossed the plate 39 times.

Gosselin was 6-for-7 on stolen base attempts this spring and sported an unblemished fielding percentage of 1.000 with 67 putouts and four assists. She was tabbed to the Northeast-10 All-Conference first team this season as well as the Northeast-10 Conference Championship All-Tournament team.

In postseason action, Gosselin drove in 13 runs while batting .333 and slugging .767. She crushed three homers and also picked up a triple.

In her first collegiate season, Giovannini started 42 of 43 games in which she appeared. She owned a .264 batting average and drove in 18 runs on the year. The rookie landed 32 hits in the spring, including four round-trippers. Giovannini was selected to the Northeast-10 All-Conference first team and also claimed a spot on the All-Rookie squad.