Trio Earns Weekly Softball Awards
Trio Earns Weekly Softball Awards
ELMHURST, Ill. – Fort Wayne's Ashleigh Bousquet and Western Illinois' Sammy Marshall were named Summit League Players of the Week and North Dakota State's Whitney Johnson was selected as Pitcher of the Week for their performances April 15-21.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Ashleigh Bousquet, Fort Wayne
Jr. // IF // South Bend, Ind.
Bousquet received her second career Player of the Week award and her first this season after hitting three home runs and slugging 1.111 over six league games. In the series opener against Oakland, Bousquet accounted for the game's lone run with a solo home run in a 1-0 Mastodon victory. In the second game of the doubleheader, she hit another home run and totaled two hits, two RBI and two runs scored in a 4-2 win. Bousquet's top performance came in the series finale against first-place North Dakota State when she went 4-for-4, including a solo home run. For the week, she batted .444 with three home runs, four RBI and a team-best five runs scored. With five walks, Bousquet registered a .565 on-base percentage during the week.
Sammy Marshall, Western Illinois
So. // SS/OF // Naperville, Ill.
Marshall earned her fourth career Player of the Week award and first of the season after hitting .500 during the week. In the series opener against IUPUI, she went 2-for-3 with a triple, two RBI, a walk and two stolen bases. In the second game of the series, Marshall hit her second career inside-the-park home run. Against South Dakota State, Marshall went 2-for-4 in all three games of the series. She hit a triple in game one, recorded a double and stolen base in game two and had a RBI and stolen base in game three. For the week, Marshall totaled 10 hits, seven runs, four RBI and five stolen bases. She recorded a .545 on-base percentage and .900 slugging percentage in six games.
Also nominated: Lindsey Richards, IUPUI; Liz Broyles, Kansas City; Katie Soukup, North Dakota State; Chelsea Carena, Oakland; Molly Negrete, Omaha.
Previous winners: Feb. 11 – Jessica Lam, IUPUI; Feb. 18 – Erika Polidori, OU; Feb. 25 – Liz Broyles, UMKC; March 4 – Brittany Kachur, IPFW & Maritza Lopez-Portillo, NDSU; March 11 – Monica Rondon, WIU; March 18 – Eryn Dillon, IUPUI; March 25 – Alyssa Reina, NDSU; April 1 – Dani Pugh, IPFW; April 8 – Jenina Ortega, NDSU & Allie Daly USD; April 15 – Campbell Ditto, UNO.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Whitney Johnson, North Dakota State
Sr. // P // Lake Crystal, Minn.
Johnson collected her 11th career Pitcher of the Week award and fifth this season after a pair of complete game victories over Fort Wayne. During the week, she also became The Summit League's all-time strikeout leader, surpassing the previous mark of 880 that lasted over a decade. While handing Fort Wayne its first Summit League loss of the season, Johnson fanned 16 and yielded just two hits without an earned run. In her second outing against the Mastodons, she allowed four hits and struck out six. For the week, Johnson went 2-0 with a 0.50 ERA and totaled 14.0 innings with six hits, one earned run and 22 strikeouts.
Also nominated: Miranda Kramer, Fort Wayne; Cassie Vodde, IUPUI; Deanna Friese, Kansas City; Erin Kownacki, Oakland; Dana Elsasser, Omaha; Kelsey Michelini, Western Illinois.
Previous winners: Feb. 11 – Dana Elsasser, UNO; Feb. 18 – Whitney Johnson, NDSU; Feb. 25 – Dana Elsasser, UNO; March 4 – Miranda Kramer, IPFW & Whitney Johnson, NDSU; March 11 – Dana Elsasser, UNO; March 18 – Madison Frain, USD; March 25 – Whitney Johnson, NDSU; April 1 – Whitney Johnson, NDSU & Ashton Hughes, UNO; April 8 – Megan Flenniken, IPFW & Deanna Friese, UMKC; April 15 – Dana Elsasser, UNO.
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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