University of Evansville softball player Kristen Shirk often took one for the team, and teammate Jacki Bradley rarely walked opposing batters. As a result, both rank among the nation's top 10 in the final NCAA Division I softball statistics, released today.

Shirk finished eighth in the nation in getting hit by pitches. She was plunked 15 times in 46 games. The junior second baseman also ranked 15th nationally with 15 sacrifice hits. She was Evansville's fourth leading hitter with a .280 average. Bradley ranked number nine nationally in fewest walks, allowing only 24 in 171 innings for an average of 0.98 per game. Bradley had a 12-13 record in her senior year, with a team-best 2.62 earned run average. Also ranking in the top 20 was sophomore catcher Krista Price, who scored a total of 44 runs in 46 games to rank 14th. All-region first baseman Brittany Herald, who led the Missouri Valley Conference in hitting with a .399 average, cracked the top 65 in four categories. She was 53rd in both batting average and slugging percentage (.696), 57th in on-base percentage (.478) and 64th in toughest to strike out (once in every 15.3 at-bats).

As a team, the Aces ranked 36th nationally with a .969 fielding percentage, and 49th with 0.76 home runs per game. Evansville finished 25-21 overall, giving head coach Gwen Lewis her 10th winning season in the last 13 years.