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Bay City, Mich. -- Ashland University sophomore pitcher/first-baseman Logan Hursey(Zanesville, Ohio/John Glenn) and freshman pitcher Emlyn Knerem (Brunswick, Ohio) 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":
Logan Hursey - Ashland
(So, P/1B, L/L, Zanesville, Ohio/John Glenn)

Sophomore P/1B Logan Hursey had AU's highest batting average last week and was second in RBI during a 6-0 week. She had an .813 slugging percentage and a .619 on-base percentage. In a 4-1 win over Hillsdale, she was 3-for-3 and drove in two runs and in a 5-4 victory over Findlay she was 2-for-3 with a triple, homer and two RBI. Hursey leads Ashland in batting average (.373), homers (five), RBI (17), slugging percentage (.687) and on-base percentage (.468). The Eagles have won 12 straight games, 17 of their last 18 games and are 6-0 in the conference.

Weekly Honor Roll: Lynsay Weaver - FS, Amanda Kern - UF, Becky Rudenga - GV, Dana Gould - HC, Michelle Boscola - NU, Nicole Fick - SV, Tiffany Smith - TU, Becca Ryan - WS.

2009 "Players of the Week": (3/18) M. Beaubien - SV; (3/23) S. Gray - AU; (3/30) L. Hursey - AU.

GLIAC Softball "Pitcher of the Week":
Emlyn Knerem - Ashland
(Fr, RHP, Brunswick, Ohio)

Freshman Emlyn Knerem pitched a complete-game four-hitter to beat Hillsdale, 4-1. The next day she earned the first save of her career, pitching 1.2 innings to preserve a 5-3 win over Findlay. In that game, she struck out all five batters she faced. In the second game of the twinbill with UF, she pitched four innings in relief and received credit for the win as AU won its 12th consecutive game, 5-4. Knerem allowed one hit in the four innings with one walk and seven strikeouts. Opposing batters hit .145 against her last week. On the year, the rookie is 7-2 with a 2.39 ERA and 112 strikeouts in 79 innings.

Weekly Honor Roll: Holly Bruntjens - FS, Alyssa Schultz - UF, Lauren Rohan - GV, Jamie Vandenburgh - HC, Alicia Brandenburg - NU, Jade Fulton - SV, Kellie Kitchen - TU, Casey Hanes - WS.

2009 "Pitchers of the Week": (3/18) L. Andjelich - GV; (3/23) C. Hanes - WS; (3/30) E. Knerem - AU. 

-- GLIAC Softball Weekly Notes --

Ashland - The Eagles start this week with a 12-game winning streak. The last time AU had a longer winning streak was in 1999 when the Eagles reeled off 14 consecutive wins. That team finished 45-15…AU has won 17 of its last 18 games. Last week, the Eagles were fifth in the regional rankings. AU went to Northern Kentucky last week and swept a doubleheader, giving the Eagles a 3-0 mark against NKU this season. Ashland is 5-1 against GLVC teams in 2009…freshman pitcher Emlyn Knerem (Brunswick, OH) earned the first save of her career last Sunday against Findlay. She pitched 1.2 innings and struck out all five batters she faced in a 5-3 triumph over Findlay. Knerem has 112 strikeouts in 79 innings and opposing batters are hitting .205 against her…senior catcher Erin Porter (Middlefield, OH/Cardinal), a transfer from Denison, sat out last season. So far, it doesn’t appear as if the layoff has damaged her swing. In six games last week, Porter hit three homers and drove in six runs. Porter is second on the team in roundtrippers (four) and RBI (16) and has played in 23 of Ashland’s 24 games…the top of the Ashland lineup has been an exceptional job of setting the table for the middle of the order. Leadoff hitter Erica Miller (Indianapolis, IN/Franklin Central) is hitting .369 and is second on the team in runs scored. Second baseman Carrie Hosier (Decatur, AL/Jefferson State C.C.), hitting second in the lineup, has a .291 batting average, a team-high 18 runs scored and is 7-for-7 in stolen base attempts. Hosier, who is in her first year at AU, leads the team in steals…a year ago, sophomore Logan Hursey (Zanesville, OH/John Glenn) was primarily a pitcher. Now, she leads the team in batting average (.373), home runs (5) and RBI (17)…AU hit .310 last week week with five homers.

Ferris State - Sophomore shortstop Lynsay Weaver’s (Bay City, Mich./All Saints) six RBIs on one base hit at Cornerstone (3/26) represents a career single-game high, bettering her three RBIs in game one at Cornerstone (3/26). Weaver has compiled five multiple-RBI game efforts to date in her career and concluded the two-game set at Cornerstone with nine RBIs…Ferris State’s 16 runs in last Thursday’s (3/26) 16-3 victory at Cornerstone represented the most runs scored by the Bulldogs since last season (4/20) when FSU notched a 16-3 conference win at Tiffin…Sophomore catcher Rachel Mueller (Santa Clarita, Calif./Valencia) hit her first career home run in the Bulldogs’ 16-3 game two win at Cornerstone. Mueller, who went a career game-best three-for-three at the plate in the contest, belted a three-run homer in the third inning and also had a double. Mueller’s three RBIs marked a career high, eclipsing her two RBIs versus Cornerstone (4/7) and Lake Superior State (4/19) a season ago…The Bulldogs are ranked sixth nationally in the latest (3/25) National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II Top 25 Coaches’ Poll. FSU, which had been listed seventh in the previous two weeks (3/11 and 18) polls, received 283 points. Ferris started off the 2009 season ranked sixth in the NFCA’s Division II Coaches Preseason Poll. ..Sophomore outfielder Rachel Wade (Canton) produced her first home run of this season in her 15th game with a two-run shot in the fourth inning of FSU’s 10-1 win at Cornerstone (3/26) in the doubleheader opener. Last season, Wade hit only one roundtripper which occurred in her 34th game with a solo blast against Ashland (5/3) at the GLIAC Tournament.

Findlay - The University of Findlay softball team split a pair of games on Wednesday, March 25 against Hillsdale College. The Oilers lost the first game 9-3 and then won 12-6 in the second contest. Kara Hochevar led the way again for the Oilers by going 3-4 with three singles…Findlay then lost a pair of games on Friday, March 27 to Tiffin University in Tiffin, Ohio. The Oilers lost the first game of the twin bill 8-1 and then fell 2-1 in eight innings during the second contest…The Oilers dropped a twinbill of games against Ashland University on Sunday, March 29 in Ashland, Ohio. The Oilers lost their first game 5-3 and then fell 5-4 in the nightcap to run their record to 12-7 on the year with a 1-5 mark in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC). The Oilers will be back in action again on April 1 when they face Urbana University in a doubleheader beginning at 3:30 p.m. in Urbana, Ohio.

Grand Valley State - The Lakers extended their winning streak to 16 games with home doubleheader sweeps over Northwood and Cornerstone. GVSU's originally scheduled twinbill at #6 Ferris State has been moved from Sunday (Mar. 29) to Monday (Mar. 30)...Grand Valley State hit .317 for the week and had six different players score three runs apiece, as it outscored its opponents, 25-6, in four games. The Lakers did not commit an error in four games and have just one error in their last eight contests...all three of GVSU's pitchers recorded a victory, as senior Lori Andjelich (Munster, Ind.) went 2-0 with a 0.58 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 12.0 innings. For the year, Andjelich is 12-3 with 0.93 earned run average and four shutouts. Junior Lauren Rohan (Naperville, Ill.) was nearly unhittable and totaled a 0.00 ERA, allowing just three hits in eight innings of work. She secured a complete-game victory over Northwood and earned a save against Cornerstone, improving to 6-1 on the year. Freshman Andrea Nicholson (Avon Lake, Ohio) also won her fourth game of the year and is 4-1 in her rookie campaign...during the Lakers' 16-game win streak, shortstop Nichole Woityra (Lake Orion, Mich.) is hitting .451 with a pair of homers and 11 RBI, and has added 14 runs and a .647 slugging percentage. Woityra has also made just one error during that stretch. Junior centerfielder Tina Briggs (Muskegon, Mich.) is hitting .410 during the winning streak, scoring eight runs and adding 16 hits, to up her batting average to .348, third-highest on the team. GVSU's earned run average during this 16-game run is 1.22, compared to 3.99 for its opponents.

Hillsdale - The Hillsdale College softball team opened conference play last week, going 1-3 on the road vs. Findlay and Ashland…Senior pitcher Jamie Vandenburgh struck out a season-high 11 in Wednesday’s game-one win over Findlay…She leads the team with 37 strikeouts in six appearances on the season…Six players have 10 or more hits on the season, with senior Dana Gould off to the best start of her career with a team-high 13…She had two triples against Findlay…Freshman Allison Hetrick had her first collegiate home run and run batted in against Ashland on Saturday…Seven different players have hit home runs for the Chargers this season, with Gabrielle Chartier, Alyssa Grewcock and Jordan Kellie hitting two apiece…Hillsdale plays its home opener Monday vs. Tiffin in a doubleheader moved up from Sunday…After a road twinbill at Tiffin Wednesday, the Chargers are home this weekend, hosting Wayne State and Saginaw Valley State.

Lake Superior State - Lake State has gone 0-4 in their last 4 games against SVSU…Junior catcher Nichole Dunford (Chersterfield, Mich.) had a homerun in each of the games against SVSU on 3/28…Dunford is leading the Lakers with 3 homeruns for the season.

Northwood - The Northwood University softball team went 0-4 last week, dropping doubleheaders to Grand Valley State and Wayne State…the Timberwolves are now 6-12 overall on the season…Michelle Boscola (Broomfield, Colo./Legacy) led the way offensively for Northwood, batting .333 with a home run and a double…Alicia Brandenburg (Sabillasville, Md./Catoctin) pitched well despite going 0-2 for the week…she posted a 1.62 ERA in two starts, allowing three earned runs in 13.0 innings of work…the Timberwolves will host four conference doubleheaders this week, beginning with Saginaw Valley State Monday (March 30) at 3 p.m.

Saginaw Valley State - The Lady Cardinals extended their winning streak to 12 games and improved their record to 17-5 on the season with four convincing wins over Lake Superior State University on Wednesday (Mar. 25); 16-2 and 8-0 and Saturday (Mar. 28) 16-3 and 8-2. The Cardinals boasted a team batting average of .443, pounded out 58 hits and scored 48 runs over the course of the two double-headers. The SVSU pitching staff also had great days, allowing just seven runs on 20 hits, more impressively the Cardinals staff only walked five batters while striking out 31 Lakers. The Cardinals pitching staff has also held opponents to a .201 batting average while striking out 166 batters. The Cardinals boast a team ERA of 1.31 and have combined for 10 shutouts on the season. Nicole Fick got hot this week, putting her best four game stretch of the season together against Lake Superior State University, going 8-for-12 with seven runs batted in. Fick ripped three doubles and scored three runs for the Cardinals this past weekend. Jade Fulton continued with near perfect form against Lake Superior State University with 16-2 and 16-3 victories, she also picked up her third save of the season. On Wednesday (Mar. 25) Fulton stuck out five of the 13 batters she faced and in her start on Saturday (Mar. 28) she fanned nine of the 27 batters she faced, while allowing no walks in either outing. Fulton calmly entered Saturdays second game with 5-1 lead and bases loaded as she proceed to strikeout the only batter she would need to face in the inning. She then proceeded to strike out five of the next eight hitters she would face as she completed the save opportunity. The Cardinals will play six GLIAC games this upcoming week.

Tiffin - TU hit .316 for the week, turning the offense around from a disappointing outing the previous week…The pitching staff also improved, posting a 0.60 ERA over 2 games…Lauren Mazzuca matched Tiffany Smith’s .500 average for the week and scored 3 runs to lead the team…Delaney Talmage also had a productive week, hitting .429 with 2 doubles…Jessie Creakbaum improved her average by hitting .375 for the week while Stephanie Bobotas was also over .300 with a .333 mark…Meagan Baird also hit .286…Krista Sowers got the other mound victory, allowing no earned runs over 7 innings and scattering 5 hits with 6 strikeouts in a 2-1 TU victory over the Oilers.

Wayne State - Wayne State has won 14 of its last 18 contests since starting the year 1-3…head coach Gary Bryce, in his 28th season at WSU, became the seventh Division II softball coach in history with 900 wins and just the 23rd in any NCAA Division with WSU’s two victories vs. Northwood on Saturday…junior pitcher Casey Hanes (Richmond, Va.) tied a season-best with 11 strikeouts in game one…Hanes has 118 strikeouts this year, which ranks 11th all-time at WSU, in 102 innings while tossing seven shutouts…she has also combined on two other shutouts…freshman first baseman Becca Ryan (Westland, Mich./Dearborn Divine Child) batted .500 (3-6) against NU with three RBI…sophomore catcher Rachel Spaccarotelli (Ray, Mich./Romeo) drove in the lone run on game one with a two-out double in the second inning, then smacked a three-run home run in game two…Wayne State plays all six games this week on the road before returning to Detroit to face Hillsdale on April 8…the first game on the Charger twinbill will be televised live on Comcast Channel 900.