March 24
Performer
Natalie Geenen - Ripon College - Senior
SS - Appleton, Wis./Appleton East
Geenen helped lead Ripon to a 5-4 record during their spring trip to Clermont, Fla. last week, recording a team-high batting average of .433 (13-30). Nine of her 13 hits went for extra bases, including five doubles and four triples. She scored a team-best 10 runs and drove in six runs, which ranked second on the team. For the week, Geenen’s slugging percentage was .867.
Pitcher
Kelsey Deakins - Carroll University - Senior
P - Kansasville, Wis./Burlington
Deakins pitched the Carroll University softball team to a 6-4 record on its annual spring break trip to Ft. Myers, Fla. The senior finished the trip with a 5-1 record on the mound. She appeared in six games and finished with a 2.06 earned run average in 34 innings on the mound. She struck out 20 batters and walked just nine. Opponents batted .211 against her.
March 30
Performer
Carli Gurholt - Lawrence University - Sophomore
SS - Scandinavia, Wis./Amherst
In 10 games during the Vikings Spring Trip to Clermont, Florida, Gurholt hit .433 with 2 doubles, 6 home runs and 17 RBI. Her slugging percentage was 1.100 and she was 3/3 in stolen bases while scoring 12 runs for the Vikings. Defensively, she had a fielding percentage of .898 at shortstop.
Pitcher
Sarah Christensen - Monmouth College - Senior
P - Galesburg, Ill./Galesburg
Christensen moved into the No. 2 spot on the all-time strikeout list and helped the Fighting Scots to their biggest win of the season last week. The senior struck out eight in a 5-4 win over MacMurray Wednesday to tie Kim Buckert’s 201 career Ks. She then took sole possession of second place with three strikeouts against 18th ranked Illinois Wesleyan as the Scots came back to post a 3-2 win. Christensen kept Monmouth within striking distance against IWU, allowing just one run over her five innings of work. For the week, Christensen was 1-0 while recording 11 strikeouts with one walk and a 2.10 ERA. Opposing batters his just .225 against Christensen.
April 6
Performer
Sarah Stariha - Beloit College - Freshman
Catcher - LaSalle, Ill./St. Bede Academy
Stariha had a big week in leading Beloit to a 2-2 record. In a 9-4 win against Viterbo last Tuesday she hit her first career home run. In a 3-0 win over Lawrence on Saturday that gave Beloit a split of their MWC seasonopening doubleheader, she had two doubles and drove in two of the three runs in the game. She has a team-leading five doubles and nine RBIs on the season.
Pitcher
Emily Perish - Lawrence University - Freshman
P - Frankfort, Ill./Providence Catholic
Perish fired her first collegiate shutout and went 2-0 on the week. The freshman compiled a 0.51 earned run average in
13.2 innings on the week. She allowed only seven hits and opponents batted only .143 against her. In an 8-0 win over Beloit on Saturday, Perish went the distance, allowing only three hits. She struck out three and walked two. She also
tossed 1.2 innings of scoreless relief in the second game of the doubleheader against Beloit. In an 8-3 win over MSOE last Thursday, she went the distance and allowed only three hits and one earned run.
April 13
Performer
Morgan Seiler - Monmouth College - Freshman
SS - Chillicothe, Ill./IVC
Seiler helped Monmouth to a 3-1 week, splitting a double-header with Robert Morris-Springfield, winning the opener 10-2 and dropping the nightcap 5-2, then sweeping Knox 12-0 and 13-7. The freshman slugged a two-run homer in the second inning of Game 1 against RMS then picked up a pair of singles in the nightcap to go 3-for-7 in the twinbill. Seiler owned the Knox pitchers as she went 4-for-6 with three doubles and four RBIs in the two games. Her first double in the opener scored the first run of a five run first. She then hit back-to-back doubles in her first two at-bats in Game 2, driving in three runs. For the week, Seiler hit .538 with a 1.000 slugging percentage, driving in seven runs while going 7-for-13 with five runs scored, no strikeouts and a .600 on-base percentage.
Pitcher
Sarah Christensen - Monmouth College - Senior
P - Galesburg, Ill./Galesburg
Christensen posted a 2-0 record with a pair of five inning victories for the week. She rebounded from a shaky first inning against Robert Morris-Springfield, allowing three hits in the inning as RMS scored both its runs. The only runners to reach after the first inning were by errors as Christensen faced just two batters over the minimum over the last four innings in the 10-2 Monmouth win. She nearly earned her first career no-hitter in a 12-0 shutout victory over Knox. A sun-field fly ball that dropped for a base hit in the first inning was the only hit the senior allowed in a one hit, one walk (both in the first inning), 10 strikeout day. For the week, Christensen held opponent to a .111 batting average and had a 1.40 ERA with 16 Ks, one walk, four hits and two runs.
April 20
Performer
Jeanette Andresen - Lake Forest College - Junior
OF - Woodridge, Ill./Downers Grove South
Andresen helped lead Lake Forest to five victories in seven conference games last week. She was 3-for-7 with a walk and two runs scored in a doubleheader split with visiting Illinois College on Wednesday. The Foresters posted a 4-1 mark at the MWC Classic and Andresen led the squad with a .667 batting average (10-for-15) and .933 slugging percentage at the event. She belted her fourth home run of the season, scored four runs, and drove in five on the weekend. For the week she batted .591 with a double, home run, six runs, five RBI’s, a stolen base, a sacrifice bunt, .773 slugging percentage, and a .640 on-base percentage. In addition, she won all three games she pitched and posted a 3.11 earned run average on the week.
Pitcher
Andrea Knorr - Ripon College - Senior
P - Neenah, Wis./Neenah
Knorr improved her season record on the mound to 7-7 thanks to going 3-1 last week, including 3-0 over the weekend at the MWC Crossover Tournament. In her five appearances (four starts) Knorr allowed seven earned runs in 28.0 innings of work, striking out 13, while walking just three of the 117 batters she faced.
April 27
Performer
Natalie Geenen - Ripon College - Senior
SS - Appleton, Wis./East
Geenen led Ripon to wins in all four of its games last week, extending the Red Hawk’s winning streak to nine games. That helped Ripon clinch homefield for the 2009 MWC Tournament with a 12-1 conference record, which is the best conference record in school history. In last week’s four games, Geenen batted .636 (7-11) with four RBI, six runs scored and three walks. Geenen also hit the 17th home run of her career, which is the second-most in school history. In addition to that, Geenen recorded one triple and stole four bases.
Pitcher
Amanda Murdock - Monmouth College - Senior
P - Aledo, Ill./Aledo
Murdock pitched the best game of her career last week in a 2-1 loss to Cornell. The senior didn’t allow an earned run in her six innings of work, scattering three hits while striking out three with one walk. The only runs she surrendered came when the Scots committed two errors in the fifth inning. Murdock worked the first 3.1 innings of a 10-2 loss to Augustana on Tuesday, striking out two. For the week, she posted an ERA of 3.00, more than a run lower than her season average.