Courtesy of the A-Sun
MACON, Ga. – Jacksonville’s Lexie Ballard and USC Upstate’s Lexi Shubert were rewarded for outstanding weeks on the diamond as this week’s Atlantic Sun Softball weekly winners, announced by the league office on Monday.
Ballard, a senior from Kissimmee, Fla., picks up her first career A-Sun Player of the Week honor after leading Jacksonville to its first league series win of the season this past week. The Dolphins welcomed Lipscomb to Jacksonville and Ballard was instrumental in getting a 2-1 series win. She finished the three-game set hitting .500 with a .500 on-base percentage as she collected five hits, including two doubles. Ballard’s slugging percentage was .700 for the series after she had two multi-hit games to close out the weekend. Ballard also came up clutch on senior day as her RBI-single in the ninth inning was a walk-off single for the Dolphins. She enters this week’s play in the midst of an 11-game hitting streak.
Shubert continued her dominance in the circle this weekend helping the Spartans to another three-game sweep. She earns her fourth career weekly honor, third consecutive to become the first A-Sun pitcher since 2010 to achieve the milestone. Shubert finished the week with a perfect 4-0 record, including leading the Spartans to their first-ever sweep at FGCU. She threw three complete games, including two shutouts. Shubert struck out 20 batters and only allowed one walk all week. She came out of the bullpen to shut down FGCU in the second game and pick up the win. Finished the week throwing 19.1 innings with an ERA of 1.09 to improve her record to 21-4 on the season.
Atlantic Sun Softball Player of the Week – April 6th
Lexie Ballard, Jacksonville
Senior | Catcher/Third Base
Kissimmee, Fla.
– First Career Atlantic Sun Player of the Week honor
– Led Jacksonville to its first conference series win over the season over Lipscomb
– Combined for a .500 batting average and .500 on-base performance in three games
– Had two multi-hit games in the final two games of the series to lead Jacksonville to victory
– Hit the walk-off RBI-single on senior day to propel Dolphins to extra-inning victory
– Extended her hitting streak to 11 games with hits in every game last week
Other Nominees: Natalie Rhodes, Kennesaw State; Paige Neely, Lipscomb; Shelby Duncan, North Florida; Allie Connor, Northern Kentucky; Shellie Robinson, USC Upstate
Atlantic Sun Softball Pitcher the Week – April 6th
Lexi Shubert, USC Upstate
Sophomore | Pitcher
Hickory, N.C. | Graphic Design
– Fourth Career Atlantic Sun Pitcher of the Week award; third consecutive this season
– Won all four games for the Spartans last week, including two shutouts against FGCU
– Struck out 20 batters in 19.1 innings of work while only allowing one walk combined
– Came out of the bullpen to earn the victory in second game at FGCU throwing an inning and a third of shutout ball
– Had five or more strikeouts in each of the three starts last week and held opponents to .186 batting average
– Led USC Upstate to first-ever sweep at FGCU in Fort Myers, Fla.
Other Nominees: Taylor Rossman, Jacksonville; Logan Viers, Kennesaw State; Kaylie Wallace, North Florida; Ashlynn Roberts, Northern Kentucky
| Date | Player of the Week | Pitcher of the Week |
| Feb. 9 | Stacy McClelland, North Florida | Kayla Goff, North Florida |
| Feb. 16 | Cheyenne Griffin, USC Upstate | Kelly Young, Lipscomb |
| Feb. 23 | Emily Sanchez, Jacksonville | Courtney Brandt, Stetson |
| Mar. 2 | Cheyenne Griffin, USC Upstate | Kelly Young, Lipscomb |
| Mar. 9 | Kara Chambers, Kennesaw State | Victoria Brown, Jacksonville |
| Mar. 16 | Dani Devlin, Northern Kentucky/Kendall Settlemyre, USC Upstate | Kayla Goff, North Florida |
| Mar. 23 | Hillary Kartman, Kennesaw State | Lexi Shubert, USC Upstate |
| Mar. 30 | Caitlin Plocheck, Lipscomb | Lexi Shubert, USC Upstate |
| Apr. 6 | Lexie Ballard, Jacksonville | Lexi Shubert, USC Upstate |
