LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Whitney Gillespie and Jamie McGuire both received all-region honors from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association on Thursday, when the organization released its all-region teams for 2017.
 
Both Gillespie and McGuire earned third-team honors for the central region for their performances in the 2017 season, the second-straight selection for Gillespie and McGuire's first career all-region mention.
 
It marks the second consecutive year that JSU has placed two players on the all-region teams after Gillespie and Ella Denes were third team mentions in 2016. The individual accolades come after the Gamecocks (40-10) won their second-straight Ohio Valley Conference regular-season and tournament championships and are getting ready for this week's Tallahassee Regional.
 
Gillespie was the most dominant pitcher in the OVC in 2017, earning First Team All-OVC honors for the second-straight year and then grabbing the Most Valuable Player award in the OVC Tournament. She leads the OVC and is ninth nationally with a 1.11 earned run average and posted a 0.45 ERA in conference play. She becomes the first player in school history to earn all-region honors in more than one season.
 
The Pelham, Ala., native went unbeaten in league play for the second-straight season and then carried her impressive play into the conference tournament. In the Gamecocks' four-game sweep of the tourney, Gillespie went 3-0 with a save in the circle and also led JSU at the plate. She was 5-for-9 with three doubles and two homers in the tourney, extending a hot streak that has seen her hit .409 with an .841 lugging percentage over the past 20 games.
 
McGuire received all-region honors for the first time after grabbing her second-straight First Team All-OVC mention in 2017. The Glencoe, Ala., native leads the Gamecocks in hitting (.349), home runs (12) and RBI (35), while slugging a team-high .658. She handles the OVC's best pitching staff from behind the plate, pacing a staff that enters the NCAA tournament with a 1.69 ERA, the 16th-best in the nation.
 
McGuire also feasted on her OVC opposition, batting an impressive .468 with four homers. She joined Gillespie on the OVC's All-Tournament Team after belting three two-run homers in the Gamecocks' championship run. McGuire boasts a fielding percentage of .987 and committed just one error in 110 chances in conference play.
 
Gillespie, McGuire and the Gamecocks will open NCAA Tournament play on Friday at 3:30 p.m. CT, when they take on Georgia on ESPN2 in the first game of the Tallahassee Regional.