Allison Apke Named Academic All-American

PEORIA -- For the first time in nearly a decade Bradley softball has produced a CoSIDA Academic All-American, with senior first baseman Allison Apke (Teutopolis, Ill./ Teutopolis) earning third-team Academic All-America honors according to an announcement by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Thursday.
 
Apke is the first Academic All-American selection from Bradley Softball since Brittany Fairbairn was a second-team honoree in 2011 and is just the fourth individual in program history to earn the distinction.  Julie Jehle and Amy Pera were both Academic All-America performers in 1995. 

Apke was one of two Missouri Valley Conference softball players named Academic All-American in 2020, joining Drake’s Mandi Roemmich. 
 
A mechanical engineering major with a biomedical concentration, Apke graduated this spring with a 3.35 cumulative grade point average.  This spring she was hitting .317 with a team-best five homers, which was tied for fifth in the MVC, and was third on the squad in both runs (13) and RBI (16).  Over the final seven games of the abbreviated 2020 campaign, Apke was 11-for-22 with two doubles, a triple, four homers, 10 RBI and 10 runs scored.
 
Apke's school career record 32 homers are tied for the 17th-best career total in MVC history.  The only player in program history with 10 or more homers in two different seasons, Apke was a Third-Team NFCA All-Mideast Region pick in 2019 and a two-time All-MVC performer.  She holds Bradley's career slugging percentage record (.631) and ranks among the top in school history in career RBI (6th - 109), walks (T5th - 63) and on base percentage (4th - .435).  Apke joined former teammate Maria Schroeder and Jehle (1993-96) as the only three-time First-Team MVC Scholar-Athlete picks in Bradley Softball history this spring.To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.0, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at his institution and be nominated by his sports information director.