PORTLAND – Loyola Marymount senior infielder Megan Ackerman has been named the 2009 Pacific Coast Softball Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year, PCSC Commissioner Ellen Moore announced Monday.
Ackerman, from Thousand Oaks, Calif., graduated with a 3.03 grade-point-average while majoring in Natural Science. She will attend graduate school at the Los Angeles School of Chiropratic this fall. In addition, she was a four-year standout for the Lions, earning second team All-PCSC honors in 2006, 2007 and 2009.
Ackerman was twice named to the PCSC Commissioner’s Honor Roll in 2006 and 2009.
This past spring, Ackerman hit .328 with 13 HRs, ranking second on both the PCSC and school single-season lists. She finished her career with a .300 batting average, 32 HRs and121 RBI. She ranks second on Loyola Marymount’s career home run list and tied for third on the PCSC career list. Her 121 RBI ranks third on the school’s career chart and fourth in PCSC history.
Ackerman also ranks fourth in school history for career runs scored, 112, and fourth in career doubles with 37.
As a sophomore in 2007, Ackerman helped the Lions to a 47-18 overall record, including 18-2 in the PCSC, as Loyola Marymount set conference records for most overall and PCSC wins in a season. She then turned in a spectacular postseason, hitting a game-winning grand slam against UC Santa Barbara to lift Loyola Marymount to its first-ever NCAA Regional win. She later hit a game-winning three-run home run to eliminate host-UCLA as the Lions advanced to the NCAA Los Angeles Regional Championship Game.
As a junior in 2008, Ackerman set PCSC single-game records with two home run and seven RBI in a game against North Dakota on March 8.
Ackerman was also heavily involved in the LMU community, including serving two years on the LMU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. She played a major role in the group’s effort to organize more student-athlete community service projects. Ackerman donated over 25 hours of time to community service projects this past year, including the Kentwood Elementary Beautification Project, Dockwiler State Beach Clean-up, feeding the homeless at the PATH Soup Kitchen and participating in the annual LMU Student-Athlete canned food drive for the St. Joseph’s Center.