Rocky Hill, Connecticut native led Skyhawks with .342 batting average, seven home runs, and 29 RBI this season

EASTON, Mass. (May 12, 2014) – Stonehill College sophomore designated player Megan Ruonavaara (Rocky Hill, Connecticut/Rocky Hill) has earned Daktronics All-East Region second team honors for softball, based on a vote by the region's sports information directors.

Ruonavaara led the Skyhawks with a .342 batting average (40-for-117), seven home runs, and 29 RBI this season. She also drew ten walks and scored 20 runs while posting a .395 on-base percentage and .556 slugging percentage. The sophomore was named to the Northeast-10 All-Conference first team on April 29^th for her efforts.

During a 14-game stretch from April 6^th-April 19^th, Ruonavaara hit .449 with three doubles, six homers, and 21 RBI. In the rubber game of a three-game series against eventual Northeast Division champion Southern New Hampshire University on April 13^th, she delivered a two-out, two-run, walk-off single down the left field line to complete Stonehill's 4-3 comeback victory.

Ruonavaara's breakout season at the plate comes a year after she was named to the NE-10 All-Rookie team as a pitcher after going 15-12 in the circle with a 2.97 ERA. This marks the second consecutive season that a student-athlete from Stonehill's softball program has earned All-Region honors, as Nicole Eisenmann, '13, collected All-East Region accolades from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association in 2013.

In 89 career games, Ruonavaara is a .320 hitter (72-for-225) with eight doubles, 13 home runs, and 51 RBI. She has also posted a .391 on-base percentage and .529 slugging percentage, while scoring 37 runs and drawing 25 walks. In the circle, she has posted a record of 21-23 in 48 starts with a 3.34 ERA and 156 strikeouts.

Ruonavaara, who has earned a 3.92 cumulative grade point average as an accounting major, has also excelled in the classroom during her two years at Stonehill. Earlier this spring, she was presented with the St. Thomas Aquinas, Patron Saint of Students, Medal, for posting the highest cumulative GPA on the softball team. In addition, Ruonavaara has been named to the Northeast-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll and the Athletic Director's Honor Roll all three of her semesters at Stonehill.  

Stonehill (20-25, 14-15 NE-10) finished its 2014 campaign in fifth place in the NE-10 Northeast Division, just a game out of fourth and the final spot in the NE-10 Championship.

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