VIDEO: Allison Rager Interview
JEFFERSSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman head softball coach has announced the return of 2019 SAC Pitcher of the Year Allison Rager to Mossy Creek.
Rager joins the Carson-Newman coaching staff as a graduate assistant coach.
"This was a really easy and quick decision," Rager said. "I loved spending my senior year here. I've loved being around Coach Graves and Coach Toppel and being around the girls. This was not a hard decision for me to return."
In her lone season with the Eagles, Rager shined in the circle. The Morehead State transfer had the lowest ERA in the South Atlantic Conference at 2.00 en route to earning SAC Pitcher of the Year honors. She was also an NFCA All-Region second team selection and D2CCA All-Region first team choice.
She finished the year fourth in the league in batting average against (.220) and led the league in shutouts (five). Her 124 strikeouts were ninth in the conference. Rager had two standout games on the year. She earned South Atlantic Conference Pitcher of the Week honors after collecting three wins against Lenoir-Rhyne and Tusculum.
Her start against Lenoir-Rhyne featured a 13-strikeout performance. That total was good for a career high and the fourth-most in Carson-Newman history. In her final regular season home game, Rager again dazzled. She twirled a no-hitter against regionally-ranked Newberry to help clinch Carson-Newman a second-place finish in the SAC standings. Rager only allowed four base runners in that game.
Rager became the first Eagle since Marci Mitchell Whiteside in 2001 to throw multiple no-hitters in the same season. Rager hurled a five-inning no-no in the first game of the 2019 Southeast Regional to power Carson-Newman to a 13-0 win over Anderson.
She also had a double-digit strikeout performance (11) against North Greenville. At the plate, Rager fell in love with the long ball. The Elkview, W.Va. native homered seven times and drove in 20 runs.