Alumni Update - Nicole Sleith (Robert Morris)

Robert Morris freshman Nicole Sleith, a Yough High School graduate, doubled up in a big way as she was selected as both the Northeast Conference Pitcher of the Year and the NEC Rookie of the Year in addition to being named All-NEC

Sleith has had a record-setting rookie campaign in the circle for the Colonials. She tied the single-season school record for wins (24) on the final day of the regular season with a four-hit shutout of Youngstown State, lowering her ERA to 1.60, a mark which would currently rank fifth in single-season school history and would be the best by any Colonial since 1998.

As it stands right now, Sleith's 2012 season would be one of just five in school history with a winning percentage above .700. She became the first RMU freshman ever to surpass 200 strikeouts in a season and her current total of 227 makes her just one of four Colonials ever to hit that mark.

She leads the NEC in wins, strikeouts and saves (5) and ranks among the top 30 nationally in each of those categories.

Within league play, Sleith tallied 12 wins along with a 1.50 ERA and a .210 opponents' batting average. She racked up 113 strikeouts in NEC play against just 17 walks in 107 innings to post a strikeout-to-walk ratio of over 6.6:1.

Sleith, who also ranks among the single-season top 10 in both complete games and shutouts at RMU, notched wins over both Georgetown and Pittsburgh this season and struck out five batters in 2.2 innings of hitless, shutout relief against nationally-ranked Hawaii.

Sleith's selection marks just the second time in NEC history, and first at RMU, in which a student-athlete earned both pitcher and rookie of the year honors.

Sleith becomes both the fourth Colonial, and the first since 2005, to win pitcher of the year and the fourth Colonial to win rookie of the year, which moves RMU into a tie for the most accolades in that category in NEC history. She is also the seventh all-conference pitcher in RMU history and the fifth one named to the first team.

(photo courtesy of Robert Morris University)