photos courtesy of Mark Campbell

NEWARK, Del. -- Senior Cecile Egan and junior Michelle Grap have been named University of Delaware softball team co-captains for the upcoming 2010 season.

Egan (right), who has appeared in 87 games while making 75 starts during her first three seasons in Newark, is expected to compete for a starting outfield spot for the Blue Hens this season. The Germantown, Md. native boasts a career .272 batting average with 59 hits, 22 runs scored and 21 RBI.

Egan made an immediate impact during her freshman season in 2007, appearing in 37 games while starting 34 for the Blue Hens. She batted .250 during her rookie year, recording 26 hits while ranking third on the squad with 22 runs scored. She raised her average to .313 as a sophomore, third best on the team, while posting 21 hits, seven runs scored and four doubles.

Last season Egan appeared in 20 games while starting 19 for Delaware, including 18 in the outfield. She batted .261 with 12 hits and seven RBI before missing the final month of the season with a shoulder injury.

Grap (left), a native of Ellicott City, Md., is expected to start again at third base for the Blue Hens. Grap, who should bat in the heart of the Delaware lineup, enters her junior season already tied for third in UD history with nine career home runs. She has posted a .266 career average with 61 hits, 37 runs scored and 50 RBI during her first two seasons.

Grap appeared in 45 games and started 43 in the 2008 season as a freshman, batting .229 while leading Delaware with six home runs, second most in a season in UD history. She also paced the Blue Hens with 30 runs batted in, tied for the sixth most in a single season, while adding 27 hits, 16 runs scored and six doubles.

Grap followed with an outstanding sophomore season a year ago, earning second team All-Colonial Athletic Association honors. She started all 39 games for the Blue Hens, including 37 at third base, and led UD with 20 RBI while ranking second on the team with a .306 batting average, 34 hits, three home runs and 13 walks. Grap also led Delaware with 12 multi-hit games, and she recorded an eight-game hitting streak from March 21 through March 31, posting multiple hits in six of the eight contests.

Egan and Grap will lead a Blue Hen squad that returns seven starters and 10 letterwinners from the 2009 team that went 21-18 overall and finished fifth in the CAA with a 7-9 conference mark. Delaware begins its 2010 campaign on February 19-21 when the Blue Hens compete at the University of North Carolina Classic, and opens its home schedule with a 2 p.m. doubleheader against UMBC on March 9.