Goubeaux, Decima, Salay named Academic All-Ohio Athletic Conference

Goubeaux - Decima - Salay

By Tim Glon

Three student/athletes on the No. 4-ranked Ohio Northern softball team (39-6 overall, 16-2 OAC) were named Academic All-Ohio Athletic Conference for 2009 in voting conducted by the league’s 10 faculty advisors.

Senior Danielle Goubeaux (Coldwater) and juniors Liz Decima (Freedom, Pa./Ambridge) and Katie Salay (Brecksville/Brecksville-Broadview Heights) were all named Academic All-OAC for 2009.

All three women are making their first appearances on the Academic All-OAC squad.

Goubeaux, a biology major, is a two-time All-OAC and two-time All-Region honoree and was third on the squad with a .387 batting average while starting 43 games in left field.

She also has 34 RBI, 11 doubles, 32 runs scored and has a .443 on-base percentage.

In 148 career games, Goubeaux has collected 134 hits, ranking her 10th all-time at ONU. She also ranks among ONU’s all-time leaders in home runs (6), RBI (70) and runs scored (91) and is fifth with a .377 career batting average.

She was also named to the NCAA III Central Region All-Tournament Team and to the NCAA III Championships All-Tournament Team.

Decima, a pharmacy major, was named Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association First Team All-American this season.

She is a two-time First Team All-OAC honoree, a two-time All-Region honoree, an All-District IV honoree and was named to the NCAA III Central Region All-Tournament Team.

Decima led the Polar Bears in hitting with a .475 average in 45 games this season. She also has a team-high 54 runs scored, a school-record 75 base hits, five triples, a .671 slugging percentage and a .531 on-base percentage.

In three seasons as a Polar Bear, Decima is ONU’s all-time career hits leader with 186 and doubles leader with 40.

She also ranks among ONU’s all-time leaders in RBIs (106), home runs (10), triples (8), runs scored (122) and stolen bases (37).

Decima was also named to the All-OAC Tournament Team in 2008 and 2009 and was named the OAC Hitter of the Week on 4/20/09.

Salay, a pharmacy major, hit .357 in 37 games this season, going 20 for 56 with 17 RBI and eight doubles.

She finished the season with 17 runs scored, had a .536 slugging percentage and a .441 on-base percentage while seeing action in left field, as a designated player and as a pinch-runner.

In 101 career games, Salay has a .368 career batting average, 42 hits, 49 runs scored, 28 RBI, a .579 slugging pct. and a .459 on-base percentage.

The Polar Bears set a school record with 39 victories this season against just six defeats, won the OAC Regular Season and Tournament titles, and advanced to the NCAA III NCAA Championships for the first time in school history by winning the NCAA III Greencastle, Ind., Regional Tournament.