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O’Donnell hired as SFU softball coach

From Mirror reports

LORETTO — Saint Francis University has hired Jessica O’Donnell as its new softball coach.

O’Donnell is set to lead the Red Flash after serving the last five seasons as the Associate Head Coach at Villanova University.

“We are excited to welcome Jessica O’Donnell to the Red Flash Family and as our next Head Softball Coach,” Director of Athletics Susan Robinson Fruchtl said. “We believe Jessica is a great fit for Saint Francis University and that we are a great fit for her on many levels. Jessica shares many of the same values that we as an institution strive to uphold and she has prepared herself for this next step to be our head coach.

“We are confident that Jessica will continue the success that we have experienced and will be a great fit for our student-athletes. We are proud of our Softball program and what our team has accomplished. We are excited for Jessica to mentor our student-athletes in a manner that will positively develop them as people and as student-athletes.”

While at Villanova, O’Donnell worked with the infielders and catchers as well as day-to-day operations. During O’Donnell’s time at Villanova, the Wildcats increased their win total in each of her first four seasons on campus and achieved winning records in each of the last three seasons. Villanova earned 17 All-Big East selections, including eight First Team, two Big East Pitcher of the Year, one Big East Freshman of the Year and three NFCA All-Region selections during O’Donnell’s tenure.

Prior to her time at Villanova, O’Donnell spent two seasons as an assistant at Francis Marion University, where she coached the infielders and handled operations duties. She began her coaching career at the Community College of Baltimore in Catonsville and worked with the Florida Pride professional softball team in 2011.

The Maryland native began her playing career at CCBC, earning All-Conference, All-Region and NFCA All-American Scholar Athlete honors before transferring to UMBC. She served as a three-year starter at shortstop. O’Donnell was a three-time member of the America East Honor Roll and was a team captain in 2009. She graduated in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in American studies.

O’Donnell takes over a Red Flash program that has won back-to-back NEC Titles. The Red Flash went 39-19 in 2018, including a perfect 16-0 record in the NEC regular season and a 3-0 mark in the NEC Tournament. SFU went undefeated in NEC play for the second straight season and currently holds the nation’s longest conference win streak at 38 games, the fourth-longest conference win streak in NCAA Division I history.

PSU Altoona’s Jacobs honored

Penn State Altoona baseball’s sophomore Peter Jacobs was named a first team All-American by the Jewish Sports Review in the July/August edition of its bi-monthly publication.

Jacobs is one of 16 baseball players nationwide who was selected to the first team of the JSR’s 2018 All-America squad for the NCAA Division II, Division III, and NAIA levels. The sophomore slugger earned a spot on the list as a designated hitter.

Jacobs becomes the first player in Penn State Altoona baseball history to earn All-American status from the JSR. Additionally, he is just the second player in Penn State Altoona Athletics history to be named a JSR All-American first teamer in any sport.

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