Moon Township, Pa. – Senior pitcher
Dana Vatakis of the RMU softball team was named to the 2022 Academic All-District® Team Thursday by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Vatakis is the first RMU student-athlete to earn District 2 honors since former pitcher Nicole Sleith (2012-15) in 2015. An early childhood & special education major, Vatakis has compiled a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.64.
Vatakis will now advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® ballot for national recognition, with honorees announced in June. CoSIDA's District 2 includes student-athletes that compete for institutions from the states of Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia as well as the District of Columbia.
Entering Thursday's elimination game as part of the 2022 Horizon League Tournament against Green Bay at the YSU Softball Field, Vatakis, a native of Monessen, Pa., has made a team-high 22 appearances from the circle, including 15 starts. She has posted a 3.13 earned run average (ERA) while striking out 95 over 98.1 innings and has also notched two of RMU's single-season team record seven saves.
RELATED: 2022 CoSIDA Softball All-District Teams (PDF)
In #HLSB play during the 2022 campaign, Vatakis earned nine starts among her 12 appearances, posting a record of 5-5 (.500) from the circle with a 2.17 ERA, yielding 19 earned runs in 61.1 innings. She struck out 57, posted a pair of complete games and a save.
Over the last four seasons, Vatakis has made 87 appearances with the Colonials, including 64 starts. She has logged 418.1 innings, striking out 283 while recording an ERA of 3.38. Over the last two years, Vatakis has compiled a record of 17-14 (.548).
Led by fourth-year head coach
Jexx Varner, the Colonials own an overall record of 28-20 (.583) and finished with a mark of 16-9 (.640) in the Horizon League. As the No. 4 seed, RMU dropped its opening game of the 2022 #HLSB Tournament to No. 5 seed Green Bay before rebounding to earn its first win in program history in the tourney, 4-2, over No. 3 seed Youngstown State in an elimination game.
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