IRVING, Texas - Conference USA's commitment to excellence on the field and in the classroom continues to show as 14 student-athletes have been named to the 2017 InTouch Credit Union Conference USA Softball All-Academic Team. Eleven schools are represented on the exclusive list.

The team features six repeat selections in Charlotte's Haley Pace, Marshall's Morgan Zerkle, North Texas' Kelli Schkade, UAB's Joanna Fallen, UTEP's Courtney Clayton and UTSA's Angelica Nino. First-time winners include Charlotte's Meredith Harris, Florida Atlantic's Alex Miller, FIU's Danielle Mowry, Louisiana Tech's Morgan Turkoly, Marshall's Taylor McCord, Southern Miss' Samantha Reynolds, UTSA's Bailee Baldwin, and WKU's Kathryn Downing.

Pace started every game for the 49ers this season while maintaining a perfect GPA as an accounting major. The junior was a 2016 C-USA All-Academic and 2016 CoSIDA Academic All-America honoree. She currently serves as Charlotte's 2016-17 Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Vice President while leading her team in batting average (.421), runs scored (51), hits (67) RBI (45) and home runs (15).

Charlotte teammate, Meredith Harris joins Pace on the all-academic squad, carrying a perfect 4.00 GPA in the classroom as an English/Spanish major while showing marked improvement at the plate and on defense. Harris' 79 total bases this season are third among team leaders.

Zerkle, the 2017 C-USA Player of the Year, keeps up a 3.72 GPA as an exercise science major. The senior is a three-time NFCA All-America Scholar Athlete and a 2014 recipient of the C-USA All-Academic Medal. This season, Zerkle is one of ten finalists for the Senior CLASS Award and leads the league in batting average (.476) while guiding Marshall to its first C-USA Regular Season title.

Joining Zerkle is teammate Taylor McCord, making her first appearance on the all-academic squad. The junior catcher owns a 3.64 GPA as a health science major. A three-time member of the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll, McCord was also voted to the All-C-USA First Team in both of the past two seasons.

Schkade, a 2017 All-C-USA First-Team member, studies kinesiology with a minor in biological science while maintaining a 3.88 GPA. The senior became North Texas' all-time leader in stolen bases earlier this season and strung together a 14-game hitting streak, the second-longest in program history.

Fallen posts a 3.58 GPA as a civil engineering major and has made the UAB Dean's List four times over her career. She has been just as successful on the field, earning NFCA Mideast All-Region Third Team honors in 2016. This is her third stint on the All-Academic squad.

UTEP's Courtney Clayton, last season's C-USA Player of the Year, earned the C-USA Academic Medal for the third consecutive year after keeping up a 3.87 GPA in health promotion. This season, she registered a .314 batting average with 50 hits and 21 RBI.

Nino is a four-time C-USA Academic Medal recipient and a 2016 All-Academic Team selection. The UTSA senior maintains a 3.94 GPA as an exercise science major and hit .304 this season while recording a team-high 397 putouts.

Teammate Bailee Baldwin joins Nino on the all-academic squad after keeping up a 3.92 GPA as a criminal justice major. She is a two-time C-USA Academic Medal recipient and a two-time C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll member.

A pair of Florida schools are represented on this year's team, as Florida Atlantic's Alex Miller and FIU's Danielle Mowry earn all-academic recognition for the first time in their careers. Miller took over as the full-time catcher for the Owls this season and responded with the best offensive season of her career.She maintains a 3.78 GPA as a nursing major. Mowry set career-highs in games played, hits, home runs and RBI this season, all while boasting a 3.91 GPA in psychology.

Louisiana Tech's Morgan Turkoly adds to her successful sophomore campaign after being named an All-C-USA first teamer yesterday. Turkoly led the Lady Techsters to a West Division crown while maintaining a 3.89 GPA as an accounting major. Her 23 walks this season are tied for ninth-most among league leaders.

Reynolds has enjoyed an impressive season on and off the field for Southern Miss, recording a 3.95 GPA as an exercise science major and posting a batting average of .320 while leading the team with an on-base percentage of .460. Her improvement in batting average from last season is the highest on the team (hit .206 as a sophomore).

WKU's Kathryn Downing rounds out the list with a 3.44 GPA as a broadcasting major. Off the field, she serves as a Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) leader and character coach. On the diamond, she led WKU in the circle with a 2.21 ERA over 171.1 innings pitched.

2017 InTouch Credit Union C-USA Softball All-Academic Team
*Haley Pace | Charlotte | Junior | 4.00 - Accounting
Meredith Harris | Charlotte | Sophomore | 4.00 - English/Spanish
Alex Miller | Florida Atlantic | Junior | 3.78 - Nursing
Danielle Mowry | FIU | Senior | 3.91 - Psychology
Morgan Turkoly | Louisiana Tech | Sophomore | 3.89 - Accounting
*Morgan Zerkle | Marshall | Senior | 3.72 - Exercise Science
Taylor McCord | Marshall | Junior | 3.64 - Health Science - Pre-Communication Disorders
*Kelli Schkade | North Texas | Senior | 3.88 - Kinesiology, Biology minor
Samantha Reynolds | Southern Miss | Junior | 3.95 - Exercise Science/Biological Science minor
*Joanna Fallen | UAB | Senior | 3.58 - Civil Engineering
*Courtney Clayton | UTEP | Junior | 3.87 - Health Promotion
Bailee Baldwin | UTSA | Sophomore | 3.92 - Criminal Justice
*Angelica Nino | UTSA | Senior | 3.94 - Exercise Science
Kathryn Downing | WKU | Senior | 3.44 - Broadcasting
*Repeat Selections