Photo Courtesy of MVC
MVC Player of the Week
Morgan Allee, Senior, Cedar Rapids, Iowa – Indiana State
Senior Morgan Allee led the Sycamores in the five games the Sycamores played over the past week going 8-16 at the plate with a .500 batting average with two home runs and two doubles. Allee also recorded eight RBI’s which was one more than the rest of the Sycamores team combined. Already the league leader in stolen bases, Allee stole three bases and moved into the top 15 in career stolen bases in MVC history, despite only playing not even two full seasons. The senior also held a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage at short stop while holding an on base percentage of .529 with two sacrifices.
MVC Pitcher of the Week
Regan Romshek, Sophomore, Gibson City, Ill. – Illinois State
Romshek posted a stellar 1.09 ERA in 19.1 innings pitched last week, but was a tough-luck loser twice, going 1-2 in her three starts. The sophomore began the week by limiting DePaul’s high-powered offense to just three runs in 6.1 innings, Wednesday. She followed up that performance by not allowing a single earned run in two starts at Loyola over the weekend. On Saturday, Romshek hurled her second shutout of the season in game one of the doubleheader, allowing just three hits en route to her 10th win of the campaign. Romshek was stellar in game three of the series Sunday, but was let down by her defense, as she surrendered three unearned runs. Romshek has been a work horse this season, as the ranks second in the Valley with 157.0 innings pitched.
MVC Newcomer of the Week
Cacy Williams, Sophomore, Platte City, Mo. – Wichita State
Williams led Wichita State this week, hitting .533 (8-for-15) on the week that included four doubles, a home run, two RBIs and six runs scored, while boasting a 1.000 slugging and.611 on-base percentages. Against No. 19 Oklahoma, the Platte City, Mo., native went 4-for-7 (.571) at the plate, with two doubles, a .857 slugging and .571 on-base percentages, while leading the team in eight putouts in the doubleheader. In the weekend series against Northern Iowa, Williams went 4-for-8 (.500) with two doubles, a home run, two RBIs and led the team with a 1.125 slugging and .636 on-base percentages. On the season, the sophomore leads the team and the MVC in batting average (.397), home runs (9), walks (27), slugging percentage (.738) and on-base percentage (.513).
Other notable performances:
PLAYERS
Madeline Lynch-Crumrine, Bradley
Lynch-Crumrine hit .444 in the weekend series against Southern Illinois, in addition to posting a 1-1 record in 16.0 innings of work in the circle to go with a 3.50 ERA. She collected a hit in each of the three weekend games against SIU and also pitched at least 3.1 innings in each contest against the Salukis. Lynch-Crumrine earned the complete game victory in the series opener, going 2-for-3 along while striking out five and surrendering just three hits in a 5-1 victory. In Saturday’s second game, she scored a pair of runs and was 1-for-3 with a walk. Lynch-Crumrine also shut down a SIU offense which had collected six hits and six runs through the first 3.2 innings of Saturday’s second game, by giving up just three hits and one run in the final 3.1 innings of the game out of the bullpen. She capped the week with a 1-for-3 effort at the plate in the series finale and struck out five in the 6-4 setback.
Laura Brewer, Drake
Laura Brewer helped Drake finish 3-1 last week as Brewer went 7-for-13 (.538) at the plate along with a double, two runs scored and five runs batted. She added a .600 on-base percentage and a .615 slugging percentage. Brewer has an eight-game hitting streak and has hit safely in nine out of the last 10 games for the Bulldogs. In Drake’s last 10 games, she is 16-fo-32 (.500) with a home run, three doubles, four runs scored and nine runs batted in. The hot streak has raised her average to .301, which ranks second on the squad.
Laura Canopy, Illinois State
Canopy continued to spark the Redbirds’ offense from the top of the order last week, while also putting up a record-tying performance. The senior hit .538/.625/.615 with three RBI, four runs scored, a double, one walk, two hit by pitches and one stolen base, while equaling a single-game program record by scoring four runs in game two against Loyola, Saturday. Canopy hit safely in all four of ILS’ games, beginning with a 1-for-3 performance against DePaul, Wednesday. She combined to go 5-for-7 with three RBI in Saturday’s doubleheader, both ISU wins, before rounding out the weekend with another 1-for-3 performance.
Tarran Shaffer, Loyola
Loyola University Chicago junior Tarran Shaffer has been on a hot-hitting streak since the Ramblers’ makeup doubleheader versus Missouri State on Monday, boasting a .471 (8-for-17) average with one home run and five RBI over Loyola’s six games this week. Shaffer’s slugfest began during the Ramblers’ twinbill against the Bears, hitting .667 (4-for-6) with one home run to lead Loyola over Missouri State in game two. The junior continued her success against Illinois State this weekend, boasting a .444 average (4-for-9) with two multi-hit games on the day to play an integral role in Loyola’s success against the Redbirds in the series finale. For the week, the junior finished with a .765 slugging percentage and a .500 on-base percentage.
Kelsey Gonzalez, Southern Illinois
Kelsey Gonzalez had a great week at the plate, hitting 5-for-11 (.455) with a .727 slugging percentage and hitting in all four games. Gonzalez got pumped up from the No. 9 hole to the five spot and came through with three RBIs. She also hit a home run against Eastern Illinois in the mid-week game and had a sacrifice fly, her fourth of the year. She drew a walk to post a .462 on-base percentage and played nearly flawless softball at shortstop. She also scored three runs.
Brittany Fortner, Wichita State
A sophomore from Cedar Hill, Mo., Brittany Fortner went 5-for-12 (.417) for the week, which included twodoubles, six RBIs and a grand slam against Northern Iowa this weekend. Fortner was one of three Shockers to hit .500 (4-for-8) in the weekend sweep of Northern Iowa and was second on the team with a 1.000 slugging percentage and added nine putouts on the weekend.
PITCHERS
Rebekah Schmidt, Drake
Rebekah Schmidt led the Bulldogs to a 3-1 record last week. Schmidt finished 3-0 on the week to improve her season record to 12-10. She recorded a 2.62 earned run average along with 12 strikeouts in 16 innings pitched. Schmidt helped the cause at the plate as well as she slugged two home runs and drove in six runs and finished 4-of-10 (.400). In Sunday’s series clinching win over Evansville, she launched two home runs and finished 3-for-4 with four runs batted in and also pitched 4.2 scoreless innings in the circle and allowed just one hit, while striking out five.
Taylor Lockwood, Indiana State
Sophomore Taylor Lockwood finished the week for the Sycamores with a 2.02 ERA and 1-1 record over 17.1 innings pitched. Lockwood pitched a complete game in the series opener against Missouri State, allowing just five hits to earn the win. The sophomore also struck out eight batters on the week in three appearances.
Brittany Gardner, Loyola
Loyola senior Brittany Gardner rewrote school record books this week as the senior pitched her way to a complete game win over Missouri State on Monday, effectively breaking Loyola’s all-time career record for innings pitched with 644.1innings of work. With three school records now under her belt, Gardner continued to be a dominant force in the circle for the Ramblers. Despite taking the series opening defeat to Illinois State, the senior nearly matched her season-high for strikeouts after fanning seven in the loss. Gardner came back with a vengeance on Sunday, earning a complete game win against the Redbirds in the series finale, giving up just one run on six hits against a potent Illinois State offense. For the week, Gardner finished with a 2-1 record and a 2.55 ERA, pitching 22 innings. The Rambler ace struck out 16 on her way to pitching two complete game wins.
Taylor Orsburn, Southern Illinois
Taylor Orsburn got a win and a save in a great week from her in the circle. She pitched 9.1 innings over three appearances. Orsburn, who hadn’t pitched in her first three years at SIU, posted a 2.25 ERA on the week and improved her season ERA to 2.83, which ranks second in the MVC. She got a win in the second game of a doubleheader against Bradley, pitching 5.2 strong innings to get the win. The next day, she entered in the sixth inning and got the Salukis out of a jam, allowing no earned runs and earning the save in SIU’s dramatic comeback win over Bradley.
Sloan Anderson, Wichita State
Anderson was a force for the Shockers on the mound in the weekend series against Northern Iowa, shutting out the preseason MVC favorites over two games. The senior pitched 11 innings and allowed just five hits and one walk, while striking out six and holding the Panthers to a .135 batting average.
NEWCOMERS
Chandra Parr, Evansville
The freshman Parr had another solid week for the Aces. Parr had a .400 batting average and drove in four runs on eight hits. The freshman outfielder from Anna, Ill., was terrific in the Purple Aces lone victory of the week. She hit two back-to-back homers (2 total) in the fourth and fifth innings driving in four RBI in the process. Parr also had a triple, and three more RBI’s (6 total) and was walked once. Her .800 slugging percentage was the highest on the team.
Jordan de los Reyes, Illinois State
De los Reyes continued to show the consistency that is oftentimes lacking for a player in her freshman season, as she tallied hits in all four of the Redbirds’ games last week. She hit .400/.571/.600 for the week with three RBI, two doubles, two runs and four walks. After a 1-for-3 performance against DePaul, Wednesday, de los Reyes went 2-for-5 with three RBI, two doubles and two runs in Saturday’s doubleheader sweep of Loyola. She finished out the series by reaching three times on Sunday, going 1-for-2 with two walks.
Erika Crissman, Indiana State
Freshman Erika Crissman finished the week for the Sycamores going 6-14 at the plate for a .429 batting average with two doubles and two RBI’s. Crissman also stole three bases to improve to a perfect 8-8 on the season in stolen bases. The Freshman had eight total bases and a .571 slugging percentage with one run scored and one sacrifice.
Erica Nagel, Loyola
Loyola freshman Erica Nagel had an impressive week in Loyola’s six games, starting with the Ramblers’ twinbill against Missouri State. The freshman hit .667 (4-for-6) against the Bears, knocking in a run in Loyola’s two-run fourth inning to tie the second game en route to a victory over Missouri State. For the week, Nagel finished with a .333 average (3-for-9) and also maintained a perfect fielding percentage in left field, collecting six putouts.
