IUPUI’s Lam, Omaha’s Elsasser Earn Initial Weekly Softball Honors

2/11/2013 12:00:00 AM

ELMHURST, Ill. – IUPUI's Jessica Lam and Omaha's Dana Elsasser were named The Summit League's Softball Player and Pitcher of the Week for their performances during the season's opening weekend, marking the initial awards of the season.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Jessica Lam, IUPUI
Jr. // OF // Noblesville, Ind.
Lam captures her first career Player of the Week award after leading the Jaguar offense with three multi-hit games, three multi-RBI games and a home run in each of IUPUI's first four games during opening weekend. The junior outfielder tallied her first multi-hit game going 2-for-4 with homer, three RBI and two runs scored in the Jags first loss of the season. She bettered that performance the next day going 3-for-4 with a home run, four RBI and three runs scored in a 10-4 extra-inning win over Mercer. The Noblesville, Ind., native ended the opening weekend with her final multi-hit game with a perfect 3-for-3 performance from the plate with a double and a run scored. For the weekend, Lam hit .625 (10-for-16) with a 1.438 slugging percentage, .684 on-base percentage, 10 RBI, nine runs, four homers, a double and a stolen base.

Also nominated: Miranda Kramer, Fort Wayne; Marlee Maples, Kansas City; Amber Lutmer, Omaha; Marlee Petersen, South Dakota State; Monica Rondon, Western Illinois.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Dana Elsasser, Omaha
Jr. // RHP // Hershey, Neb.
Elsasser garners her first career Pitcher of the Week honor after going undefeated (3-0) and helping the Mavs win the UNCW Beach Blast title. The right-handed hurler opened the season with a one-hit shutout over Iona, tallying four strikeouts. In her next start of the weekend, she combined for another shutout pitching four innings and giving up a single hit. In her final appearance of the weekend, she fanned five batters and picked up her third win of the weekend with a complete game victory over Detroit. On the weekend, Elsasser struck out 10, while allowing five hits, two earned runs and one walk in 18 innings of work for a 0.78 ERA, holding her opponents to a .088 batting average.

Also nominated: Megan Flenniken, Fort Wayne; Emili Escamilla, IUPUI; Deanna Friese, Kansas City; Kelsey Michelini, Western Illinois.

ABOUT THE SUMMIT LEAGUE
Entering its fourth decade of Division I athletics, The Summit League offers 19 championship sports and has a combined enrollment of over 144,000 at nine universities, four of which are located in top 58 U.S. metro populations (Detroit, Indianapolis, Kansas City and Omaha). Member institutions include: Fort Wayne (Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne), IUPUI (Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis), Kansas City (University of Missouri-Kansas City), North Dakota State University, Oakland University, Omaha (University of Nebraska Omaha), the University of South Dakota, South Dakota State University and Western Illinois University. Previously known as the Mid-Continent Conference, The Summit League rebranded in 2007 and has since produced 54 All-Americans, 37 Academic All-America selections and seven NCAA Championships. For more information about the league and its history, visit www.thesummitleague.org to "See The Summit" or follow on Twitter @thesummitleague.

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