4/27/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 27, 2011
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Former Coastal Carolina softball player Jessica Falca Flores has been elected for enshrinement in the Big South Conference Hall of Fame, it was announced today by the League.
"She probably did more to change softball than any one player at Coastal and in the Big South," former softball Head Coach Jess Dannelly. "Her speed and versatility allowed her to be named All-Big South at three different positions. She played so effortlessly and made softball look easy. She is very deserving of this great honor as she is the fifth player of mine to be inducted into the Big South Hall of Fame."
Falca finished her career in 1999 as the NCAA's career leader with 196 stolen bases, a mark that stood for five years and is now fourth all-time in Division I history. She also ended her career ranked nationally in hits (7th - 341), runs scored (12th - 193) and batting average (15th - .431). Falca is still the Big South's all-time record-holder in stolen bases and hits, and among the top five in batting. In fact, her 196 career steals are 98 more than the second-leading base stealer in Conference annals. The 1996 Big South Freshman of the Year, Falca earned First-Team All-Big South honors three times in her career - with all three awards at different positions (outfield in 1996, second base in 1998 and shortstop in 1999). She was a Second-Team All-Conference honoree in 1997 (second base) and was a two-time Big South All-Tournament Team member (1998 and 1999). An All-Region selection during her career at Coastal, Falca's .497 batting average in 1999 is still the second-highest, single-season hitting mark in the Big South, as is her 99 hits that season. She appears on the single-season hits list a second time with 88 in 1998 (eighth). Falca owns three of the top four Big South single-season totals for stolen bases, including a Conference-record 56 in 1996 and 1999, as well as 51 in 1998. Those 56 steals currently rank 21st on the NCAA Division I single-season list. Falca, a 2004 inductee into Coastal Carolina's Athletics Hall of Fame, led Coastal Carolina to the 1998 Big South Tournament title and the school's second berth in the NCAA Tournament that season.
Also being inducted are former Liberty women's basketball standout Elena Kisseleva Bengds and former UNC Asheville baseball player Ty Wigginton. The three individuals will be officially inducted on Thursday evening, June 2, 2011, during a special ceremony as part of the Conference's annual spring meetings in Hilton Head, S.C. The Hall of Fame was created in 2003 as part of the League's 20th Anniversary celebration, and now totals 44 former Big South Conference student-athletes, coaches, administrators and contributors.
