LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Senior pitcher Morgan Perry (Bethany, Conn.) of the nationally-ranked Saint Anselm College softball team was selected as one of the top-15 finalists for the 2021 Schutt Sports / National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II Player and Pitcher of the Year awards on Tuesday.

Created in 2015, the awards honor the outstanding athletic achievement among softball student-athletes throughout NCAA Division II. In 2019, the Association expanded the award to include a Player and Pitcher of the Year.

To be eligible, student-athletes must be nominated by their member head coach. With the cancellation of last year's season due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a higher percentage of eligible candidates, an additional five student-athletes have been added to the traditional top-25 roster.

A two-time D2CCA East Region Pitcher of the Year, Perry has helped Saint Anselm produce a 0.70 team earned-run average heading into the regionals. On an individual level, Perry led the Northeast-10 Conference with a 0.47 earned-run average, recording a perfect 17-0 record in the circle with 15 complete games, 11 shutouts, two no-hitters, and one perfect game. She leads all NCAA Division II pitchers with 12.8 strikeouts per seven innings, fanning 190 batters on the year.

Perry is also second in the nation in allowing just 3.37 hits per seven innings and is slotted sixth with a 0.74 walks and hits per innings pitched (WHIP). She was named the NE10 Northeast Division Pitcher of the Year and was a member of the NE10 All-Tournament Team as well.

Across a stellar career on the Hilltop, Perry has struck out a program-record 736 batters, ranking fifth on the NE10 all-time strikeout list, and helped Saint Anselm to a national runner-up finish at the NCAA Division II National Softball Championship in 2018.

Perry and the Hawks, ranked 18th in NCAA Division II, will take on the winner of third-seeded Adelphi and sixth-seeded Bridgeport on Thursday, May 19 at the South Athletic Fields to open their NCAA Tournament play.