OKLAHOMA CITY – Gardner-Webb's 2019 softball season is set to begin in eight days, and senior Andria Booth has already received recognition. Booth was named to the Top 50 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year watch list this afternoon.
 
Booth (Dacula, Ga. / Georgia Highlands College) was one of 24 seniors named to the list. 16 juniors and 10 sophomores made up the remainder of the list. Freshman are ineligible for the list can be added once they have officially competed at the collegiate level.
 
The Top 25 finalists for the 2019 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award will be announced on April 24. While an athlete does not have to be on the watch list to be considered for the Top 25, the eventual USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will come from the Top 25 finalists. The Top 10 finalists will be announced May 8 and the Top 3 on May 22. The 2019 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will be revealed May 28.
 
Last season was Booth's first in the red and black, and she led the nation in hits with 94 and finished third in the country in batting average, hitting .477 (94-of-197). Only Holly Spears of Kent State (.483) and Massachusetts' Jena Cozza (.482) had a better average than Booth. Booth also ranked in the top-30 nationally in stolen bases, swiping 33 in 36 attempts.
 
Among the Big South's leaders for 2018, Booth's name is found in a multitude of categories. Aside from her 94 hits and .477 average, Booth led the BSC in stolen bases (33), was second in on-base percentage (.514), runs scored (50), triples (5), third in at-bats (197) and rounded out the top-10 with a .563 slugging percentage.
 
Booth scored 50 runs last season, while batting in 21. She had one home run – an inside the park home run that came in non-conference contest against North Carolina Central – and was named the Big South Player of the Week on March 19.
 
Booth received recognition from the Big South for games played from March 12-18, 2018. She went 15-for 20 (.750) with eight RBI during that five-game span. Arguably her best game during that stretch came in the second game of a three-game series against Presbyterian. In Gardner-Webb's 13-7 win, Booth went 4-for-5 at the plate with four RBI and two runs scored.
 
The next month, in a mid-week non-conference doubleheader against the Charlotte 49ers, she went 7-for-7 in front of the home crowd at Brinkley Stadium.
 
The right fielder earned several accolades following the 2018 season including: First-Team All-Big South and North Carolina Collegiate Sports Information Association honors and Second-Team All-Mid Atlantic Region recognition.
 
Additionally, her name is etched in the Gardner-Webb softball record books, even though she has played just one season in Boiling Springs. She found her way into the top-10 for seven different single-season records and currently sits first in career batting average (min. 100 at-bats) and tied for ninth in stolen bases (33).
 
Booth and the 'Dogs will open the season on Friday, February 8 with the Gardner-Webb University Tournament. The Runnin' Bulldogs will host Furman, George Washington and Georgetown over the three-day event. Gardner-Webb's first game is set for 4 p.m. on Friday the 8^th against the Furman Paladins.