BLACKSBURG – Jenna Rhodes of the Virginia Tech softball team was named a Louisville Slugger/NFCA Third-Team All-American as an at-large outfield selection Wednesday afternoon. She becomes the second Hokie in program history to have the honor bestowed upon her. In addition, she also earned second-team Academic All-America honors from CoSIDA.

Rhodes shattered several single-season records at Tech this past year, including hits (91), batting average (.474) and stolen bases (49). She was named first-team All-ACC and all-region earlier this month.

With several players still competing, her spots in the rankings aren’t final, but she is sixth nationally in batting average, second in hits, tied for second in stolen bases per game and is second in stolen bases.

“Jenna had an awesome year for us and we’re very disappointed she didn’t make first or second team,” head coach Scot Thomas said. “With the numbers she put up and where she’s ranked nationally, it’s a shame she only made third team. But at the same time, she’s very deserving of All-America honors and we’re very excited for her. She had a tremendous season leading us and she’s always been a great representative of this university.”

The NFCA’s press release, along with full team listings and videos can be found here.

Rhodes was also named an ESPN the Magazine Second-Team Academic All-American for the University Division on Wednesday. The Broadway, Va., native becomes the fifth different Hokie softball player to earn Academic All-America honors. She is also just the second player to earn All-America and Academic All-America honors in the same year, joining Angela Tincher on that impressive list.

To be eligible for ESPN the Magazine Softball Academic All-District or All-America honors, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at her current institution and be nominated by her sports information director.

“Oh my goodness. That’s crazy,” Rhodes said when told of the honors. “That’s an honor that I didn’t really expect this at all. I’m kind of speechless actually.”

After composing herself, she added, “I just want to thank the team and my coaches for their support. It wasn’t the greatest of seasons, but to have everyone pull together and fight it out the best we could, I just wanted to thank them for making it a good senior year and an enjoyable experience. I also have to thank my dad, Jim Rhodes, for pushing me and coming to all my games and supporting me all these years.”

It was quite a road for Rhodes as she went from invited walk-on to All-American. She finished her career with the school record for batting average (.384) and stolen bases (114).

Rhodes, who graduated last week with a double degree in sociology and psychology, is currently in training camp with the Rockford Thunder of the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF). In her first exhibition game, she had two hits.