Ortega, Daly, Flenniken, Friese Named Players and Pitchers of the Week
Ortega, Daly, Flenniken, Friese Named Players and Pitchers of the Week
ELMHURST, Ill. – North Dakota State's Jenina Ortega and South Dakota's Allie Daly were named The Summit League's Softball Players of the Week, while Fort Wayne's Megan Flenniken and Kansas City's Deanna Friese were named Pitchers of the Week for their performances April 1-7.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Jenina Ortega, North Dakota State
Jr. // DP/C // San Jose, Calif.
Ortega earns her first career Player of the Week honor after leading North Dakota State to a series sweep over Western Illinois. The junior tallied two multi-hit games, going 2-for-3 with a homer, a double, three RBI and two runs scored in game one on Friday. In the series finale, she went 3-for-4 with a homer, two RBI and two runs scored. For the week, Ortega hit .500 (5-for-10) with a 1.200 slugging percentage, a .583 on-base percentage, two home runs, a double, five RBI and five runs scored.
Allie Daly, South Dakota
So. // C // Sioux Falls, S.D.
Daly collects her first career Player of the Week award after helping South Dakota go 3-1 on the week, including a series sweep of league rival South Dakota State. In game two of Friday's doubleheader, the Sioux Falls, S.D., native went 2-for-3 blasting two homers, with seven RBI, and three runs scored. To end the series, she was a perfect 3-for-3 from the plate with a double, three RBI and one run scored. On the week, Daly hit .389 (7-for-18) and posted a .545 batting average (6-for-11) in league play with a .538 on-base percentage and 1.182 slugging percentage. She also added two long balls, a double, 11 RBI, and seven runs scored.
Also nominated: Larissa Franklin, Fort Wayne; Ali Mosier, IUPUI; Liz Broyles, Kansas City; Alivia Nikolaus, Oakland; Alex Landon, South Dakota State; Karissa Kouchis, Western Illinois.
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.
PITCHERS OF THE WEEK
Megan Flenniken, Fort Wayne
Jr. // RHP // Cincinnati, Ohio
Flenniken earns her first career Pitcher of the Week award after throwing a no-hitter and posting a 2-1 record last week. The junior struck out eight in a complete-game victory over Ball State giving up her lone earned run of the week and fanning seven in the 1-0 loss at Loyola (Ill.). The right-handed hurler ended her week with a no-hit shutout over Concordia (Mich.), striking out another seven. Her no-hitter marked the third in Fort Wayne's Division I history. On the week, Flenniken retired 22 batters on strikes, while allowing 10 hits, four walks and one earned run in 18 innings of work for a 0.39 ERA.
Deanna Friese, Kansas City
Sr. // RHP // Kennesaw, Ga.
Friese garners her eighth career Pitcher of the Week honor and first of the season after tossing a one-hit shutout against Omaha. The senior struck out nine batters and allowed only one hit in Sunday's 3-0 win over the Mavericks, which marked Omaha's first league loss and only its second loss to a non-ranked opponent this season. She also fanned 10 batters in the 2-1 extra-inning loss to Omaha on Saturday. For the week, Friese went 1-1, striking out 19 while yielding nine walks, six hits and two earned runs in 17 innings of work for a 0.82 ERA.
Also nominate: Jocelyn Oppenhuis, IUPUI; Whitney Johnson, North Dakota State; Erin Kownacki, Oakland; Erica Denney, South Dakota.
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.
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.
#thesummitleague
