Milligan's Cronin, Pendleton Earn CSC Academic All-America Accolades

(Milligan Sports Information contributed to this story)

AUSTIN, Texas - Two Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) student-athletes earned 2022-23 CSC Softball Academic All-America® honors, the College Sports Communicators (CSC) announced on Tuesday.

Katie Cronin and Kate Pendleton, both from Milligan, made the first team.

Cronin, a nursing graduate with a .389 GPA, repeats as an Academic All-District selection as she was tabbed as a CoSIDA First Team Academic All-American last spring. The former Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Player of the Year earned All-AAC First Team honors for the third straight season in 2023. Cronin graduated as Milligan's all-time batting average leader with a career average of .466. Cronin ranked second in the AAC this season with a .456 batting average. She added 18 extra-base hits and drove in 17 runs and stole 11 bases.

Pendleton earned an exercise science diploma with a 3.81 GPA. In her senior season, Pendleton served as Milligan's No. 2 pitcher after not pitching since high school. At the plate, Pendleton hit .352 and led the Buffs in home runs (2) and RBI (25). A five-RBI game in Milligan's first AAC Tournament win since 2019 helped land Pendleton a spot on the AAC All-Tournament Team.

For a complete look at the entire CSC Softball Academic All-America Teams, click here.