March 28
Performer
Sydni Szafranski - Shortstop - Illinois College
Senior - Frankfort, Ill.
Szafranski started the season leading the squad with a .500 batting average and .566 on-base percentage. Her 17 RBIs and 17 runs scored lead the team, as do her 17 hits, five doubles, six stolen bases and six walks. Szafranski had her best game of the season in a 12-8 win over Blackburn when she went 4-for-4 with a home run and two doubles, four runs scored and six RBIs. Szafranski will be Illinois College’s all-time hits leader with her next hit.
Pitcher
Brittnee Peotter - Ripon College
Senior - Kaukauna, Wis.
Peotter is off to the best start of her career, going 7-1 in eight starts with five complete games, two shutouts and a team-best ERA of 1.25. She has struck out 58 batters in 44.2 innings. In Ripon’s spring trip to Florida, Peotter tied her own school record with 14 strikeouts in a single game, accomplishing that feat twice already this season. She also struck out 12 in another game, which is tied for sixth in the school’s record book. Opponents are batting just .196 against her.
April 4
Performer
Steph Brunette - Shortstop - St. Norbert College
Sophomore - De Pere, Wis.
Brunette hit a robust .667 this past weekend as the Green Knights swept Carroll in a MWC doubleheader and were swept by No. 11 UW-Whitewater on Sunday. Brunette was 10-for-15 with six doubles, eight runs scored and two RBIs. She also had three stolen bases. In 14 games this season, Brunette is hitting .560 (28-for-50) with 22 runs scored.
Pitcher
Jalynne Young - Monmouth College
Freshman - Monmouth, Ill.
Young earned her first collegiate victory and followed that win with a shutout victory the next day. After dropping a game to 25th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan last Wednesday, Young came back to pitch the Scots to their second conference win Saturday, a 12-2 decision over Illinois College. The rookie right-hander kept the Lady Blues off the boards before handing the ball to the bullpen. On Sunday, Young was nearly unhittable in a 9-0 blanking of Eureka. She gave up just three hits and walked one to earn her second win in as many games.
April 11
Performer
Alli Jensen - Catcher - Ripon College
Senior - Shawano, Wis.
Jensen helped Ripon go 4-1 over the weekend at the MWC Crossover Tournament, improving the Red Hawk’s season record to 15-3 overall. Jensen batted .625 (10-16) in the five games with eight RBI and eight runs scored, while also stealing eight bases on eight attempts. Her 10 hits included three home runs and one double. The highlight of her weekend came on Sunday against Lake Forest when she went 3-for-4 with four RBI, while tying a single game school record with two home runs in the 11-3 victory.
Pitcher
Megan Butler - Monmouth College
Junior - London Mills, Ill.
Butler bounced back after a rough outing on Wednesday to help propel the Fighting Scots to a 5-0 weekend at the Midwest Conference Classic. In the Classic opener – a 6-5, 8 inning win over St. Norbert – Butler threw the final three innings to log the win while surrendering just one earned run. She was called on again in the next game and worked 3.2 innings for the 4-3, 9 inning win over Beloit. She allowed no earned runs and twice set the Bucs down in order. Butler did it again for the third time Saturday, working the final three innings of a 4-3 win over Carroll. She allowed just one hit to pick up her third win of the day. Butler again got the ball in the late innings on Sunday when the Scots posted a 7-4 win over Lawrence. She worked two innings and surrendered one unearned run to notch her second save of the season. The reliever then earned her team-leading fifth win in a 6-5 come-from-behind win over Ripon in the Classic finale. Butler allowed no runs in one inning of work and allowed no runner past first. For the week, Butler recorded a 4-1 record with one save with a 2.44 ERA. She also logged the most innings of any Scots pitcher, throwing in 14.1 innings.
April 18
Performer
Ashley Cuthbert - Catcher - Lake Forest College
Sophomore - St. John, Ind.
Cuthbert reached base safely in 11 of 17 plate appearances last week, helping lead Lake Forest to a 3-2 record. She was 2-for-5 with a walk, a double, and a pair of runs scored in the Foresters split with Elmhurst College on Wednesday. She was then 2-for-2 with a walk, a double, and another run scored in a 10-2 triumph over Illinois College on Saturday. Finally, in a split with Monmouth College on Sunday, Cuthbert batted 4-for-7 with another walk, a home run, two runs scored and two driven in. She was 8-for-14 (.571) on the week with a slugging percentage of .929 and on-base percentage of .647.
Pitcher
Katy Sandt - Beloit College
Junior - Lake Crystal, Minn.
Sandt became the third pitcher in Beloit Softball history to eclipse 300 career strikeouts in her 2-0 win over Ripon College in Beloit on Sunday. The win was her 12th complete game of the season and her fourth shutout. She struck out 7 and walked two while scattering five hits. She also came in relief in the second game, a 4-2 loss, and pitched 3.2 innings of one-hit ball, striking out four and walking none. On the day she gave up six hits and no runs in 10.2 innings, striking out 11 and walking two. For the season she is 5-10 overall with a 4.43 ERA and 74 strikeouts. Opponents are hitting .247 against her.
April 25
Performer
Amanda Strutz - Infielder - Carroll University
Junior - Marinette, Wis.
Strutz lead the Carroll University softball team to a pair of doubleheader sweeps last week, including Midwest Conference north division victories over Beloit College. The junior from Marinette, Wis. finished the week 8-of-15 at the plate with five runs batted in and four runs scored. Strutz improved her season average to .393 with 14 runs batted in and 24 runs scored. The Pioneers currently have an 8-game winning streak.
Pitcher
Morgan Werkheiser - Monmouth College
Freshman - Lean, Ill.
Werkheiser was nearly untouchable in her two appearances last week. The freshman came out of the bullpen on Thursday to shut down Cornell after the Rams had jumped out to a 4-0 lead. Werkheiser worked the final four innings and gave up just two hits, not allowing a runner past second base in the Scots’ 4-2 loss. She then earned her first career start Saturday against previously ranked Washington University and pitched the Scots to a 3-2 win. In 6.1 innings, Werkheiser faced just three batters over the minimum. For the week, Werkheiser recorded a 1-0 record with a 0.00 ERA with five hits and three strikeouts and no walks. Opponents hit a miniscule .132 against her in the two outings.
May 2
Performer
Brooke Twohill - Outfielder - Monmouth College
Junior - Lemont, Ill.
Twohill was a tough out to get last week as the Fighting Scots clinched the Midwest Conference Southern Division crown and moved to within two games of setting the team record for wins. The junior outfielder’s bat helped the Scots to a 6-0 week.. Twohill picked up four hits in a twinbill sweep of Millikin last Tuesday, including a 3-for-4 effort in the opener, an 8-7 come-from-behind win. Trailing by five going into the bottom of the seventh, Twohill’s final hit of the game – a two run triple to win it – gave her four RBIs. Twohill was at it again in a 13-8, 13-2 sweep of Grinnell. She went 3-for-3 in the nightcap with a triple. She wrapped up the week with three RBIs and another triple in an 11-3, 11-5 sweep of Knox. For the week, Twohill hit .526, going 10-for-19 with a double, three triples, nine RBIs and an .895 slugging percentage.
Pitcher
Stephanie Rieuwpassa - Ripon College
Sophomore - Waukegan, Ill.
Rieuwpassa allowed zero earned runs and just seven hits in 18.1 innings of work last week, helping Ripon win three of its four games. That included her first no-hitter in a Ripon uniform in a 2-0 victory over Carroll University on Friday. She struck out 15 batters in the four games, while walking three. That lowers Rieuwpassa’s season ERA to a conference-best 1.09.