Diaz, McGowan Named Academic All-District
EUGENE, Ore. – Samaria Diaz and Terra McGowan were both named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 team on Wednesday for their stellar 2021 seasons both on the field and in the classroom.
McGowan earned second-team all-conference honors in addition to joining Bunker on the All-Pacific Region second team. She finished third on the team hitting .308 to go along with five homers and 26 RBIs. McGowan also added six doubles and 24 runs scored while batting .389 with runners in scoring position.
The Mission Viejo, Calif. native started 43 games at catcher and 10 as the designated player and finished second in the Pac-12 with 12 runners caught stealing. She started to catch fire down the stretch, hitting .480 between April 24 and May 7 with multiple hits in six of those games. McGowan also delivered a pair of walk-off hits in big games late in the season, hitting a walk-off two-run homer vs. Arizona on May 7, and a game-winning RBI single at Texas in an NCAA Regional game on May 23.
Diaz turned in a strong 2021 season in the circle, finishing 5-3 with a 2.76 ERA and 98 strikeouts to just 24 walks over 78.2 innings pitched. She ended the year tied for the Pac-12 lead with three saves and was sixth in the conference with 8.72 strikeouts per seven innings.
The fifth-year senior delivered some stellar performances in the circle down the stretch, posting a 0.40 ERA with 21 strikeouts to just one walk over her final six appearances of the season. Diaz got the victory in an elimination game at NCAA Regionals, throwing 5.2 scoreless innings with five strikeouts vs. Saint Francis. She then struck out six over 3.2 innings while giving up just one run in the regional final against Texas.
Diaz just completed her master's degree in interdisciplinary studies with a focus in sports media and earned CoSIDA all-district honors for the second straight year, while McGowan, a psychology major, was named to the academic all-district team for the first time. Both qualified for the honor by achieving a GPA above 3.3 while playing key roles on the field for the Ducks.