Softball teams pay tribute to Lauren Bernett

May 1, 2022 c_admin College Sports - NCAA, Other Motor Action Comments Off on Softball teams pay tribute to Lauren Bernett

College softball teams around the country have paid tribute to the late Lauren Bernett in the days since her death.

James Madison University announced Bernett’s death on Tuesday. Bernett, a sophomore, was a member of JMU softball’s 2021 College World Series run and garnered Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Week honors on Monday, after going 7-for-9 with seven RBIs, four runs scored and a home run over the weekend.

“We are in the process of conducting a death investigation into the incident and it is currently classified as an apparent suicide,” Rockingham County Sheriff Bryan Hutcheson said in a statement on Wednesday. “The official report from the Medical Examiner’s Office is pending, and out of respect for her family and friends, there is no other information to release at this time.”

In games following Bernett’s death, other college softball teams have rallied together, putting tributes to her on their uniforms and fields. Also included in the tributes were the late Stanford soccer goalkeeper and captain Katie Meyer, who died in March of an apparent “self-inflicted” wound according to the medical examiner’s officer, and Wisconsin track and cross-country runner Sarah Shulze, who died by suicide earlier this month.