in the news College softball player is 3rd female student-athlete to die in recent weeks

A college softball star from James Madison University has died at the age of 20, the university announced Tuesday. Her death marks the third of a female college athlete since March.

Lauren Bernett, a sophomore biology major from McDonald, Pennsylvania, was named the Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Week on Monday, just one day before her death was announced. Last year, she helped the school reach the Women's College World Series.

Authorities said Wednesday they are classifying the death of Bernett as an "apparent suicide."

In a statement, Rockingham County Sheriff Bryan Hutcheson said his department is still conducting its investigation and is awaiting a report from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia.

On March 2, Stanford University in Stanford, California, announced the death of 22-year-old Katie Meyer, the goalkeeper and captain of the women's soccer team.

Her parents later shared that Meyer's death was a suicide, telling NBC's "Today" show they had "no red flags" about their daughter's mental health. The Meyers acknowledged the pressure of college sports, however.

"There’s so much pressure I think on athletes, right, especially at that high level balancing academics and a high competitive environment," Gina Meyer said on the program. "And there is anxiety and there is stress to be perfect, to be the best, to be number one."

Earlier this month, Sarah Shulze, a cross-country athlete at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, died by suicide, according to a statement from her parents and sisters.

"Sarah took her own life. Balancing athletics, academics and the demands of every day life overwhelmed her in a single, desperate moment," the family wrote on Shulze's website. "Like you, we are shocked and grief stricken while holding on tightly to all that Sarah was."