Toledo's Dayna Denner named MAC softball player of the year

May 20—Dayna Denner's standout offensive performance for the University of Toledo softball team this season earned her the Mid-American Conference player of the year award on Thursday.

The Rockets' senior third baseman became the second player in program history to win the award (Rhonda King in 1990).

Denner, the only Toledo player on the All-MAC first team, led the Rockets with a .421 batting average, which ranks third in school history for a single season. She set program records for doubles (20), walks (37), and slugging percentage (.841). Denner's home runs (13) and total bases (122) ranked second in team history.

Toledo coach Joe Abraham praised Denner's patience after opponents began to pitch around her.

"After the league saw what she could do in the first half of the season, she saw no good pitches after that," Abraham said in a press release. "We have plenty of other good hitters, but Dayna stood out so much that teams just weren't going to let her beat them, even if it meant walking her half the time. Her power numbers tailed off down the stretch, but her batting average stayed fairly consistent and her on-base percentage kept rising. Even with that, she had the numbers to earn player of the year."

She was second in the league doubles, OBP, and slugging. In conference play, Denner led the league in doubles (16) and OBP (.597), while ranking second in batting average (.459) and third in slugging (.898).

Also announced Thursday, Denner was named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Great Lakes Region first team. She is now eligible for selection to the NFCA All-America squads.

Denner was 15th in the nation in doubles per game (0.38), 17th in on-base percentage (.550), 18th in slugging, and 21st in total bases.

First Published May 20, 2021, 3:29pm