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Bay City, Mich. -- Ashland University freshman third baseman Alyssa Kelley (Mentor, Ohio) and Ferris State University junior pitcher Kayle Stevenson (Holland, Mich.) have been named GLIAC Softball "Player" and "Pitcher" of the Week, respectively it was announced by the league office.
GLIAC Softball "Player of the Week":
Alyssa Kelley - Ashland
(Fr, 3B, L-R, Mentor, Ohio)
Ashland University freshman Alyssa Kelley hit .474 (9-for-19) last week in six games. She was AU's leading hitter in a 5-1 week. Four of those games came against regionally-ranked teams. Kelley had a double, home run and three RBI last week to go along with two walks and three runs scored. On the year, she's hitting .320 with a homer and 18 RBI. The freshman is third on the team in batting average. She's made just three errors in 38 games.
Weekly Honor Roll: Rachel Wade - FS, Kara Hochevar - UF, Breanne Kronberg - GV, Gabrielle Chartier - HC, Lorrie Chaperon - LS, Tiffany Melgoza - NU, Angela Kaiser - SV, Lauren Mazzuca - TU, Rebecca Stanley - WS.
2009 "Players of the Week": (3/18) M. Beaubien - SV; (3/23) S. Gray - AU; (3/30) L. Hursey - AU; (4/6) J. Banton - WS; (4/13) M. Beaubien - SV; (4/20) A. Kelley - AU.
GLIAC Softball "Pitcher of the Week":
Kayle Stevenson - Ferris State
(Jr, LHP, Holland, Mich./West Ottawa)
Ferris State University junior pitcher Kayle Stevenson helped the nationally sixth-ranked Bulldogs to a 4-2 mark last week by posting a 0.88 earned run average and allowing only three runs in 16 innings of work. Stevenson posted a 2-0 record in the circle during the week in three appearances while giving up 21 hits. She struck out eight batters and walked four on the week. Stevenson gave up only a single run in FSU's 4-1 win at Grand Valley State Wednesday (April 15) before allowing five hits in a decisive 16-2 win at Tiffin on Saturday (April 18). She didn't give up a run in five innings of work on Sunday (April 19) at Ashland.
Weekly Honor Roll: Logan Hursey - AU, Brittany Dauterman - UF, Jamie Vandenburgh - HC, Jessica Wojcik - NU, Kari Bowlby - SV, Krista Sowers - TU, Casey Hanes - WS.
2009 "Pitchers of the Week": (3/18) L. Andjelich - GV; (3/23) C. Hanes - WS; (3/30) E. Knerem - AU; (4/6) C. Hanes - WS; (4/13) J. Fulton - SV; (4/20) K. Stevenson - FS.
-- GLIAC Softball Weekly Notes --
Ashland - AU went 5-1 last week in what was viewed as its most difficult week of the regular season. Against Ferris State, sophomore lefty Logan Hursey (Zanesville, OH/John Glenn) pitched a nine-inning shutout to win, 2-0. Hursey rapped a two-run homer in the ninth inning to provide the margin of victory. Up to that point, AU had been shut out for 15 innings that day (FSU won the first game, 4-0). Hursey, in addition to her pitching, has a team-high nine homers. AU has had a player hit 10 or more homers in a season five times, the last time came in 2007 when Kristen McGaughey blasted 11 homers. The school single-season record is 14, owned by Sunny Litteral (1998 and 1999)...freshman Emlyn Knerem (Brunswick, OH) is 13th in the nation in strikeouts per seven innings (10.0). As a team, AU was 13th in the nation in fielding percentage as of last week...AU continues to get steady production from the middle of its order. The three-four-five hitters in the lineup are all hitting .320 or better. Hursey and Shannon Gray (Nova, OH/Crestview), who share the first base job, have combined to hit 16 homers and drive in 47 runs. Freshman Alyssa Kelley (Mentor, OH), who hits third, batted a team-high .474 last week.
Ferris State - The nationally sixth-ranked Ferris State softball team recorded a 4-2 league mark in six outings on the road last week. The Bulldogs swept archrival Grand Valley State on Wednesday (April 15) before splitting doubleheaders at both Tiffin and Ashland this past weekend (April 18-19)...Sophomore Rachel Wade posted a .381 batting average and totaled eight hits in 21 at-bats during the six contests. Wade scored four runs and tallied a pair of doubles along with two triples on the week. She totaled four RBI's and a .647 slugging percentage...FSU junior pitcher Kayle Stevenson recorderd a 0.88 earned run average and allowed only three runs in 16 innings of work. Stevenson posted a 2-0 record in the circle during the week in three appearances while giving up 21 hits. She struck out eight batters and walked four on the week...This year represents the third-straight season and fourth time in the last five years the Bulldogs have won 30 or more games in a campaign. It is the sixth consecutive year that FSU has won 20 or more contests in a season...Ferris State will now return home to play its final six regular-season contests at the FSU Softball Field in Big Rapids, Mich. FSU hosts Lake Superior State on Wednesday (April 22) with the first pitch in game one set for 3:30 p.m. (EDT).
Findlay - The Oilers went 3-1 last week...Jaccie Tufts is third in the GLIAC and leads the team in batting average at .388...Kara Hochevar has a team-high 34 runs-batted-in and is also batting .375 which ranks sixth in the GLIAC...Katie Ammons, a first team all-conference selection last season, is seventh in the GLIAC at .366...Brittany Dauterman has a team-high six homeruns...She also has a 3.77 earned run average...Alyssa Shultz and Lauren Orban lead the pitching staff with five wins apiece.
Grand Valley State - Grand Valley State earned a split with Tiffin on Sunday afternoon, ending a rough week for the Lakers. The schedule makers didn't help out GVSU, as the Lakers faced Ferris State, Saginaw Valley State, and Ashland in a five-day stretch. All three teams are regionally ranked and tied for first place in the loss column in the GLIAC...junior catcher/designated player Breanne Kronberg (Orland Park, Ill./Lockport) went 2-for-2 with a pair of homers and all four Laker RBI in game two against Ashland on Saturday afternoon. She now leads the team in batting average (.358), doubles (16), homers (six), and RBI (39)...junior Stephanee Schrader (Niles, Mich.) added a pair of roundtrippers at Saginaw Valley State on Thursday, going 3-for-6 with four RBI in the twinbill. Schrader is second on the team in homers (five) and runs batted in (26)...after six straight road games, Grand Valley State returns home to close out the regular season against Wayne State and Saginaw Valley State this weekend. The Lakers are 15-3 at home on the year.
Hillsdale- The Hillsdale College softball team went 2-2 in GLIAC play over the weekend, concluding a very busy week...The team had eight games in five days including a non-league doubleheader at Indianapolis...Freshman Gabrielle Chartier hit a grand-slam home run vs. Northwood, her third of the season...The team's freshman class has 12 home runs this season...That group has driven in 62 runs also...Laura Homan and Jessica Guertin, two of the freshmen, are on four-game hitting streaks...The team has equaled its win total from 2008 with 13...The team has a heavy non-league slate coming up, hosting Urbana and Lake Erie College, and going to Albion this week.
Lake Superior State - Second baseman Lorrie Chaperon (Howell, Mich.) batted .476 with seven extra-base hits to lead the Lakers last week. She was 1-for-6 vs. Wayne State, 3-for-7 vs. Hillsdale and 6-for-7 with four doubles and two triples vs. Findlay. For the season, Chaperon is second in the team in batting at .303 and leads the team in slugging percentage at .459. She is tied for third in the GLIAC in doubles with 11 and tied for second in triples with four...Junior infielder Lacey Knoop (Reed City, Mich.) is LSSU's top hitter with a .320 average and 40 base hits...Junior catcher Nichole Dunford (Chesterfield, Mich.) leads the Lakers in home runs with three and has a team-leading 22 RBIs.
Northwood - Northwood posted a 4-2 record last week, now standing at 10-12 overall in the league after starting conference play with a 0-6 record...the Timberwolves have moved up to sixth place in the conference, trailing fifth place Grand Valley State by one game...the Timberwolves offense came to life this week, averaging nearly six runs per game...sophomore Tiffany Melgoza (Highland, Calif./San Gorgonio) led the way for the offense, batting .389 with two home runs and eight RBI's...she finished with a .778 slugging percentage and a .409 on-base percentage...senior Ashley Belling (Shelby Twp., Mich./Utica) also batted .389 for the week, finishing with a home run and five RBI's...junior Michelle Boscola (Broomfield, Colo./Legacy) also had a big week at the plate for the Timberwolves, batting .381 with two home runs while slugging a team-best .810...the Timberwolves entered the week with eight home runs for the entire season, but hit out six this week alone...Northwood will round out the regular season with a pair of home doubleheaders - Saturday against Tiffin and Sunday against Ashland.
Saginaw Valley State - The Lady Cardinals took four-of-six games this week, with their only setbacks coming in a split with Northwood (4/14) and Wayne State (4/19). SVSU has now won 26 of their last 30 games and 18-of-22 in the GLIAC. For the season the Cardinals are hitting .314 as a team and have outscored their opponents 229-77, including 71-17 in the first two innings of games. Saginaw Valley State University also improved its record to 29-3 when scoring two or more runs in a game. The Cardinals pitching staff has also been dominating this season holding opponents to a .205 batting average, while striking out 232 batters. The Cardinals boast the GLIAC's third best team ERA of 1.47 and have combined for 14 shutouts on the season. The Cardinals celebrated senior day during Sunday's games with Wayne State, SVSU will say goodbye to six seniors that will have left a lasting mark on the program. The six cardinals honored on Sunday were; Vanessa Briggs, Malory Miller, Jessica Anhel, Nicole Fick, Marsha Beaubien and Stacy Kraatz. With four games left on the season the Cardinals are in a four-way tie for first place with pivotal games this weekend at Ferris State and Grand Valley.
Tiffin - TU had a solid week, going 6-2 while hitting .296 as a team...Lauren Mazzuca led the Dragons with a .440 mark with 11 runs scored...Tabbatha Nieman hit .429 over 4 games, while Jessica Ramirez hit .421...Delaney Talmage had the most productive week, hitting .385 with 10 RBI and 3 home runs along with 10 hits and 4 doubles. She posted an .885 slugging percentage...Meagan Baird also hit .348 as her average continued to close in on .300 for the season while Kenzie Kitchen also hit .286...Lexie Pinkleman and Emily Kellepourey also picked up mound victories during the week.
Wayne State - Wayne State went 7-1 last week including non-conference sweeps of Detroit and Lake Erie...freshman third baseman Rebecca Stanley (Waterloo, Ont./Waterloo C.I.) had a team-high five RBI while batting a team-best .412 (7-17)...she had the game-winning RBI double in the bottom of the eighth against Detroit, drove in the winning run in first game vs. LEC and then contributed a key sacrifice bunt in the 2-0 triumph at Saginaw Valley...freshm has hit eight home runs this season, sixth-most in school history...Allen had a team-best 15 total bases last week for a .625 slugging percentage...with her 4-0 mark last week, junior pitcher Casey Hanes (Richmond, Va.) moved into sixth place on the WSU single-season victory list with 23...Hanes is third on the single-season strikeout list with 211, while her ERA of 0.67 is fifth-best...she is also second in shutouts in a season (11) and in winning percentage (.852)...junior Nicole Abel compiled a 3-1 mark last week with a 0.26 ERA as she allowed five runs (one earned) in 26.2 innings with 23 strikeouts...she limited opponents to 11 hits in 90 at bats for a .122 batting average...WSU has a busy final week of the regular season hosting Findlay on Tuesday (make-up from April 14), entertaining Tiffin on Wednesday before visiting Grand Valley (Saturday) and Ferris State (Sunday).