LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Senior pitcher Morgan Perry (Bethany, Conn.) of the nationally-ranked Saint Anselm College softball team was named one of the Top 30 finalists for the 2021 Schutt Sports / National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II Player and Pitcher of the Year awards on Monday.

Created in 2015, the award honors 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 candidate, an additional five student-athletes have been added to the traditional top 25 roster.

Over 14 appearances in 2021, Perry has won each of her outings (14-0), posting the best earned-run average in the Northeast-10 Conference (0.37) and has struck out 165 batters in 84 innings pitched. Most impressively, she has conceded just four earned runs on the year and fired 12 complete games and nine shutouts.

In 2021, she has earned NE10 Pitcher of the Week twice and NFCA National Pitcher of the Week once. Monday's announcement marks the first time that Perry has made the prestigious Top 30 list in her career.

Earlier this season, Perry threw a no-hitter and a perfect game against Saint Michael's - the perfect game is thought to be the first in team history. Setting the team record for strikeouts in a game (18) against the Purple Knights, Perry has helped Saint Anselm post the lowest earned-run average in NCAA Division II (0.72) and has posted a 24-0 record in the last two seasons, a span of 151 innings.

Individually, Perry holds the third-best earned run average in the NCAA Division II with a 0.37 mark. She ranks first in the nation in the strikeouts per seven innings category (13.8) and has given up just 3.32 hits per seven innings, the second finest mark in NCAA Division II.

Across a stellar career on the Hilltop, Perry has struck out a program-record 704 batters, ranking sixth 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.

The Top 10 finalists, consisting of position players and pitchers, will be announced on Tuesday, May 18 with the 2021 Schutt Sports / NFCA Division II National Player and Pitcher of the Year revealed on Thursday, June 3.

Saint Anselm, owners of a 24-4 record and a 21-3 mark in NE10 play, awaits the winner of the Bentley and Southern New Hampshire quarterfinals matchup to be decided. The Hawks will host that team in the Northeast Division Semifinals on Thursdy, May 6 at 3 p.m.