March 5, 2012
Player
Jaci Forsythe - Outfielder - Illinois College
Junior - Manito, Ill.
Forsythe tallied Illinois College’s first hit of the season, and the first of her career at IC, in Sunday’s 2-0 loss at Birmingham-Southern College. Forsythe doubled to lead off the second inning before later stealing third base. Forsythe also provided an outfield assist in her first game playing for the Lady Blues.
Pitcher
Alese Speckhart - Illinois College
Sophomore - Quincy, Ill.
Speckhart allowed just one run over three innings in her season debut on Sunday at Birmingham-Southern College. Speckhart started the Lady Blues’ season-opener, allowing just three hits and two walks over the first three innings. She struck out one. The Lady Blues lost the game 2-0, but held the host Panthers (who improved to 7-0 this year) to a season-low run total.
March 12, 2012
Player
Courtney Kwasnitza - Catcher - Illinois College
Freshman - Stonewall, Manitoba
Kwasnitza batted a blistering .667 (8-of-12) over the past week as Illinois College went 1-3 at the Spring Fling in Pensacola, Florida. Kwasnitza also added three runs, four RBIs and five stolen bases over the four-game stretch. The freshman catcher went 4-for-4 with a triple, two runs scored, an RBI and three stolen bases in a 12-3 loss to Cardinal Stritch University.
Pitcher
Erin Rutledge - Illinois College
Senior - Argenta, Ill.
Rutledge allowed just one earned run over nine innings of work over the past week. The Illinois College senior earned her first win of the year in a 6-3 victory over Cardinal Stritch University on Thursday. She also went 1-for-3 from the plate in the win. Rutledge has a 1-0 record and a 1.50 ERA one week into the season.
March 19, 2012
Player
Stephanie Rieuwpassa - Pitcher - Ripon College
Junior - Waukegan, Ill.
Rieuwpassa was a big reason Ripon began the season with a 5-3 record on last week’s Spring Trip to Clermont, Fla., as she led the team in nearly every offensive category. She finished the week with team bests in batting average (.379), doubles (3), home runs (1), RBI (9) and stolen bases (3), while also ranking second on the team with eight runs scored and one triple. She recorded a slugging percentage of .655 and an on-base percentage of .438. She now ranks fourth in school history for career doubles (25).
Pitcher
Stephanie Rieuwpassa - Pitcher - Ripon College
Junior - Waukegan, Ill.
Rieuwpassa was dominant on the mound during last week’s Spring Trip to Clermont, Fla., going 4-1 in five starts and posting an ERA of 1.58. That includes three complete games and one shutout, while striking out 43 batters and walking just 11 in 31 innings of work. Opponents hit .174 against her during the week. With that performance, Rieuwpassa is now one strikeout shy of the second-highest total in school history.
March 26, 2012
Player
Alyssa Edler - Designated Player - Monmouth College
Freshman - Forreston, Ill.
Edler’s bat helped the Scots to a 4-0 weekend. The sophomore delivered the winning run with an RBI double in the bottom of the sixth as Monmouth clipped Cornell 3-2 in Game 1 Saturday. She picked up another hit in the nightcap of the 4-2 win to complete the sweep. The freshman was at it again Sunday in a 10-2, 7-3 sweep of Eureka. Edler added a single in her first at-bat of Game 1 and wnet 3-for-4 in the nightcap with a two-run RBI double. For the week, Edler hit .462 (6-for-13) with three runs and three RBIs. She posted a .500 on-base percentage and a .615 slugging percentage.
Pitcher
Stephanie Rieuwpassa - Pitcher - Ripon College
Junior - Waukegan, Ill.
Rieuwpassa was dominant in two starts last week against second-ranked Coe College, pitching a pair of complete games in which she did not allow an earned run in her 13 innings of work. In a 3-1 loss to the Kohawks on Saturday, Rieuwpassa allowed just three hits, while striking out six and walking one. She followed that up with a three-hit shutout in Sunday’s 4-0 victory against Coe, which marked Ripon’s first win against a team that is ranked in the top two in the country. In that victory, Rieuwpassa struck out 10 batters, while walking three. Her 16 strikeouts during the week move her into second on Ripon’s career list with 286 career strikeouts.
April 2, 2012
Player
Nora Logue - Outfield - Lake Forest College
Freshman - Barrington, Ill.
Logue led Lake Forest with a .500 (8-for-16) batting average in six games last week. Among the base hits was her second home run of the season and she added a stolen base and a team-high five runs scored. Logue reached base safely via walk or hit in each game and posted a .579 on-base percentage on the week.
Pitcher
Erin Rutledge - Pitcher - Illinois College
Senior - Argenta, Ill.
Rutledge earned a pair of pitching wins over the past week as Illinois College won five times in five tries. Rutledge allowed just three hits and one run while striking out nine in a 10-1 win at Grinnell College, before scattering seven hits and allowing one run while fanning six in a 4-1 win at Knox College. She posted an ERA of 1.08 with 15 strikeouts in 13 innings over the last week. She also batted .375 (3-for-8) with a double and an RBI.
April 9, 2012
Player
Stephanie Rieuwpassa - Infield - Ripon College
Junior - Waukegan, Ill.
Rieuwpassa batted .438 (7-16) last week, recording at least one run and one RBI in all four of Ripon’s games. Her week was highlighted by a 3-for-4 performance in a 3-0 win at UW-Oshkosh, which saw her drive in two runs and register her fifth double and second home run of the season, while tossing a complete game one-hit shutout on the mound. She scored four times and drove in five runs in Ripon’s four games during the week.
Pitcher
Alyssa Edler - Pitcher - Monmouth College
Freshman - Forreston, Ill.
Edler made sure the Fighting Scots got off to a good start in Midwest Conference play, tossing her first shutout in an 8-0 win over Knox. After surrendering two singles in the first inning, Edler was untouchable the rest of the way in the complete game victory. She retired the last 14 batters she faced, striking out four and inducing seven ground outs in the two-hitter. For the season, the freshman sports a 1.52 ERA with a 4-2 record.
April 17, 2012
Player
Steph Brunette - Shortstop - St. Norbert College
Junior - De Pere, Wis.
Brunette hit a robust .684 this past week to lead St. Norbert to a 4-1 record. Brunette hit safely 13 times in 19 at bats in five games, scoring eight runs with two doubles, one triple, four RBIs and three stolen bases. She is now hitting .500 on the season.
Pitcher
Kelly Chesnut - Pitcher - Lake Forest College
Junior - Channahon, Ill.
Chesnut factored prominently in two of Lake Forest’s three wins at the MWC Classic last Saturday. She retired 14 batters in a row during the team’s 10-2 triumph over St. Norbert to start the day. Chesnut allowed just four base hits while striking out eight and walking one in the complete game victory. She then came on in relief and escaped a one-out, bases-loaded jam in a 3-1 win over Beloit. She struck out two and gave up just one hit while recording the final eight outs to earn the save. Opponents hit just .147 against her on the day.
April 23, 2012
Player
Hannah Sanidas - Catcher - Carroll University
Sophomore - Bloomington, Ill.
Hannah Sanidas finished 12-for-21 at the plate last week to lead the Carroll University softball team to a 4-2 record. Among her hits was a two-run walk-off homerun against Beloit College on Wednesday afternoon. Sanidas, a sophomore from Bloomington, Ill. (Tri-Valley), ended the week with four runs scored and four runs driven in. For the season she is batting a team-best .394.
Pitcher
Stephanie Rieuwpassa - Pitcher - Ripon College
Junior - Waukegan, Ill.
Rieuwpassa went 2-0 last week in two starts last week, allowing one earned run in 26 innings pitched to lower her season ERA to 1.32. That included a complete game shutout in Saturday’s 1-0 17-inning win against Carroll. She struck out 11 batters in that game, pushing her weekly total to 18. Rieuwpassa also pitched two hitless innings in a win against Lawrence to notch her third save of the year, which ties a single season school record, and completed a sweep over the Vikings.
April 30, 2012
Player
Amanda Stromquist - First Base- Grinnell College
Senior - Minneapolis, Minn.
Stromquist, a two-time All-MWC selection, had a huge week as she hit .455 with two RBIs for the Pioneers. She also had a .941 fielding percentage in that span and a 5.56 ERA.
Pitcher
Katy Sandt - Pitcher - Beloit College
Senior - Lake Crystal, Minn.
In her final two games as a Beloit College Softball player, Sandt led the Bucs to a sweep of Ripon College on Sunday in Beloit. In the first game, a 1-0 win, Sandt allowed four hits while striking out 12 and walking five for her third shutout of the season. She also had one of the Bucs’ four hits. In game two, a 4-2 win, Sandt allowed three hits while striking out nine and walking two. She finished the season with 128 strikeouts, the third-most in a season, and finished her career with 475, the Beloit all-time record.