ROCKFORD, Ill. - The Rockford University softball program had a pair of players honored by the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference on Monday afternoon when the NACC released its 2024 postseason awards. Pitcher Mariah Martinez and outfielder/pitcher Kariana Williams were both named NACC Honorable Mention. This marks the third time in the last four years that Rockford has had multiple players earn NACC postseason awards. 

Senior pitcher Mariah Martinez earned NACC Honorable Mention status for the first time in her collegiate career. Martinez served as the Regents' ace throughout the year, appearing in 28 games with 19 starts, including defeating #21 Dominican University. She led the Regents in basically every pitching category and ranked in the top 15 in the NACC in a total of eight categories at the end of the regular season. Martinez led the NACC with 3 saves, finished fourth in batting average against (.257), fifth in strikeouts (61), seventh in complete games (11), eighth in innings pitched (107.2), eleventh in starts (19), twelfth in wins (7) and fourteenth in earned run average (3.12).

Junior outfielder Kariana Williams garnered NACC Honorable Mention status for the first time in her career. Williams hit in the center of the Regent lineup and was a dual threat as both the team's starting center fielder and a pitcher. She led the team in nearly every offensive category despite missing a total of eight games. Williams ended the season with a .366 batting average, a .384 on-base percentage, a .462 slugging percentage and a .846 OPS. She had 34 hits, including 5 doubles and 2 triples, scored 17 runs and drove in 14 more. Inside the circle, Williams made 15 appearances, including 9 starts, tallied 3 wins and 33 strikeouts over her 44.2 innings pitched.