Malfara Named To Academic All-District First Team

MEDIA, Pa. -- Penn State Brandywine junior outfielder Maddie Malfara (Ardsley, Pa./Abington) was voted to the Google Cloud Academic All-District 1 Softball First Team on Thursday. The Google Cloud Academic All-District® Softball Teams, selected by CoSIDA, recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom.

CoSIDA Release

As a first team all-district honoree, Malfara has the opportunity to become the third academic all-American in Brandywine history. She now moves on to the national ballot with the additional 45 academic all-district selections from non-NCAA institutions throughout the United States and Canada. Academic all-Americans will be released in early June.

A biology major who holds a 3.81 grade-point average, she is the fifth Brandywine student-athlete to earn academic all-district laurels since 2014. Malfara is a two-time USCAA National Academic Team selection and has also garnered All-American Scholar-Athlete accolades from the National Fast-Pitch Coaches Association.

In April, Malfara took first place during Brandywine's annual Exhibition of Undergraduate Research Enterprise and Creative Accomplishment (EURECA). One of 14 presenters at EURECA, Malfara's research was titled "The Single Mitochondrion of Crithidia fasciculata is a Dynamic Network."

On the field, Malfara has started 26 games this spring for Brandywine, batting .366 with one home run and 22 runs batted in. She owns 12 extra-base hits and has scored 23 runs.

Malfara helped Brandywine win PSUAC titles during each of her three years on campus and claim a pair of fourth-place finishes at the USCAA World Series.

Brandywine (25-8-1), seeded fifth, begins World Series play Monday against No. 4 NHTI in DuBois, Pa.