MVC Softball Weekly Release (PDF)
MVC Player of the Week
Annie Tokarek, C, Sophomore, Zionsville, Ind. - Indiana State
Indiana State went 3-2 this weekend. Annie Tokarek highlighted the comeback to beat Butler in the bottom of the seventh by hitting a grand slam to walk it off for the Sycamores, beating Butler 9-5. Tokarek led the blue and white this weekend hitting .563, hitting four homeruns, eight RBIs, with a 1.375 slugging percentage. Tokarek also has an eight-game hit streak.
MVC Pitcher of the Week
Sarah Harness, P, Fresh., Bowling Green, Mo. - Southern Illinois
Sarah Harness extended her scoreless streak to 25.2 innings in the circle, as she went 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 10.1 innings of work over the weekend. She surrendered just four hits- all singles- and struck out 11 with just two walks. The reigning MVC Pitcher of the Week went the distance in SIU’s 1-0 win over the defending Big East Champion DePaul Blue Demons. She surrendered just three hits, struck out seven and walked two. She then entered in relief against IUPUI the following day and was lights out. She faced just one over the minimum in her three and a third innings of work while striking out four. The Bowling Green, Mo. native leads the Valley in wins (9) and is second in both innings pitched (71.0) and strikeouts (76).
MVC Newcomer of the Week
Alyssa Barela, C, Sophomore, Riverside, Calif. - Evansville
One of the biggest performances of the season for the Purple Aces saw Alyssa Barela record five RBI in a win over Big 10 foe Illinois. Barela batted .385 in the Red & Black Challenge in Louisville, posting five hits in 13 at-bats. She had a team-best seven RBI while walking twice. In Friday’s win over Oakland, Barela went 2-3 with two RBI. Despite going 0-2 in the rematch versus the Grizzlies, Barela walked twice. Her top performance was a 2-4 game against the Fighting Illini where she posted five RBI. She hit her third home run of the season to lead UE to a 9-1 win. In the finale against Louisville, she had a hit in two at-bats.
Other notable performances:
PLAYERS
Allison Apke - Bradley
Apke hit .417 in her four games at the Governors Classic, helping Bradley to a 3-2 record. She had hits in three of her four appearances, going for 5-for-12 a triple, two homers, three walks, three RBI and six runs scored in addition to boasting a .563 on base percentage and 1.083 slugging percentage. Apke opened the weekend by drawing a walk and scoring a run to help highlight a six-run sixth inning in an extra-inning setback to Purdue Fort Wayne. She followed that up by hitting a game-tying sixth-inning home run against Austin Peay. Apke also drew a leadoff walk in the ninth in a 3-2, 10-inning setback to the Governors. On Saturday, she was 2-for-3 with a walk, one run and one RBI in a 7-1 victory against Austin Peay in a 2-for-3 outing. Apke capped the weekend with a 2-for-3 performance in a win over Purdue Fort Wayne in which she hit a triple and homer, while scoring three runs. She pushed her career RBI total into sixth in Bradley history in addition to pushing school-record career home run total (32) into a tie for 16th in MVC history
Macy Johnson - Drake
Junior Macy Johnson batted .421 (8-for-19) with two doubles, three runs batted in, six runs and six stolen bases in five games at the Rock Challenge. Johnson started and the ended the tournament with three-hit games with both coming against Kansas City. Her six stolen bases in the five games puts her at 57 in her career, which is sixth most in program history.
Haley Woolf - Evansville
In Evansville’s trip to Louisville, Haley Woolf batted .385 with two home runs, five RBI and accumulated 13 total bases. She had five hits in 13 at-bats while adding three runs, two doubles and two walks. In Saturday’s win over Oakland, Woolf was 2-3 with a home run, two RBI and two runs scored. She added her second home run of the day in the final game of the day against Northwestern. Woolf added two more hits and two more runs batted in on Sunday in UE’s win over Illinois.
Mack Leonard - Illinois State
Mack Leonard went 4-for-5 (.800) in a pair of wins for Illinois State this weekend, as the Redbirds went 2-2 overall at the LSU Round Robin. In Illinois State’s tournament-opening game against Campbell, Leonard went 2-for-3 at the dish with an RBI double to break scoring open for the Redbirds in the 4-1 victory. The next day, Leonard turned in a perfect 2-for-2 performance at the plate, with a run scored and her team-leading 10th double. Leonard turned in a 1.200 slugging percentage and .857 on-base percentage, while the sophomore is currently riding a team-best 13-game hitting streak.
Madison Ebeling - Loyola
Ebeling extended her hitting streak to six games by batting .412 (7-for-17) with three doubles, three RBI and a stolen base last week at The Spring Games in Florida. The sophomore double twice, knocked in a pair of runs and stole a base in a 3-0 victory over Saint Bonaventure on March 5 and also tallied a pair of hits against Iowa on March 6. This spring, Ebeling, a 2019 MVC All-Defensive Team selection, is batting .338 (23-for-68) with six doubles and eight RBI.
Kelly Metter - Missouri State
Metter posted a .357 (5-14) batting average and tallied five RBI in a three-day, five-game trip to the Sooner State this past weekend. She opened with a four-RBI performance in Missouri State’s 8-0 win over Murray State on Friday. Metter went perfect at the plate against the Racers, registering run-scoring hits in three of her four at-bats. The junior outfielder went on to drive in her fifth RBI of the day with a fourth-inning double—her third of the season—against No. 14 Oklahoma State.
Adara Opiola – UNI
Adara Opiola started all five games for the Panthers at the Northern Colorado Tournament. Opiola continues her solid play finishing the weekend with a .333 batting average, compiling 1 double, 2 home runs, 3 RBI, and a team high .917 slugging percentage. Opiola also contributed 2 runs and drew 2 walks.
Jenny Jansen - Southern Illinois
Jenny Jansen hit .455 (5-of-11) with a .909 slugging percentage in SIU’s 4-0 weekend. The junior from Warrenton, Mo. finished with two doubles, a home run and five RBI. The 2020 Preseason All-MVC selection recorded at least one hit in three of SIU’s four games, including two multi-hit games. In SIU’s run-rule win over Northern Illinois, Jansen went 2-for-3 with two doubles and a RBI. In Southern’s 6-2 victory over IUPUI, she was 2-for-3 with a home run, two runs scored and four RBI. She now is tied for fourth in the league in doubles (7) and tied for sixth in RBI (19).
Peyton Moeder - Valpo
Moeder hit a team-best .348 last week for the Crusaders, picking up hits in five of Valpo’s six games. Her week was highlighted by a three-hit effort against Niagara - a game in which she scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the 10th as well. The sophomore also tallied multiple hits against Longwood. Moeder stole three bases over the six games and now owns a team-best 11 steals on the year, fifth in the conference.
PITCHERS
Emma Jackson - Bradley
Jackson went 1-1 with a 1.87 ERA in two outings at the Governors Classic, holding opponents to a .207 average. In the longest outing of her career, she was suffered the hard-luck loss in a 3-2, nine-inning setback to Austin Peay Friday. Jackson struck out five and gave up just six hits in nine full innings of work. She followed it up with another complete game effort against Purdue Fort Wayne Saturday, striking out a season-high seven in the complete game victory. She held the Mastodons to six hits in the 10-2 victory as she evened her season record at 5-5 in addition to matching her season win total from 2019.
Arielle Blankenship - Indiana State
Arielle Blankenship picked up three wins this weekend over Memphis, Butler, and Western Carolina. Blankenship was 3-0, with a 1.20 ERA in 11.2 innings pitched allowing only three runs on seven hits, with six strikeouts. Through four games, her opponent batting average is an impressive .171.
Sydney Ruggles - Loyola
In two appearances last week, Ruggles went 1-1 with a 1.27 ERA and eight strikeouts in 11.0 innings of work. The sophomore righthander tossed a complete-game one-hitter in a 3-0 win over Saint Bonaventure on March 5, fanning eight batters, her second-highest total of the season. She also allowed two earned runs in 4.0 innings in a 4-3 loss to Central Michigan. On the year, Ruggles is 6-2 with a 1.71 ERA and 44 punchouts in 53.1 innings.
Steffany Dickerson – Missouri State
Dickerson continued her sizzling start to the 2020 season, tossing 13.2 innings—including a complete game—and totaling 13 strikeouts in a weekend road trip to Oklahoma. Pitching in her home state, the junior from Oklahoma City, Okla. allowed just three hits and fanned seven in the Bears’ 8-0 shutout victory against Murray State to begin her weekend. Dickerson followed up her Friday outing by battling No. 6 Oklahoma for 7.1 innings on Saturday where she held the Sooners to six hits, struck out five, and surrendered two earned runs. In three of her four starts against teams receiving votes, the Bears hurler has allowed two or fewer earned runs to go along with her season ERA of 1.43.
Samantha Heyer – UNI
Samantha Heyer was absolutely outstanding for the Panthers in the Northern Colorado Tournament. A .150 Earned Run Average was a team best along with a 1-0 record going all seven innings against Utah Valley. Heyer finished the weekend striking out 6, walking 5, and only giving up 3 runs.
Easton Seib - Valpo
In three appearances last week, Seib struck out 10 batters in 12 innings of work and posted a .209 batting average against and a 1.00 WHIP. Seib’s week was highlighted by her performance against Niagara, where she entered in relief and surrendered just one run over three innings of international tiebreak softball to earn the win. She also tossed four innings without allowing an earned run in Valpo’s win over Cleveland State as well. Seib currently ranks sixth among MVC pitchers in ERA.
NEWCOMERS
Kristen Arias - Drake
Redshirt freshman Kristen Arias started all five games in Lawrence. Arias, who transferred from San Jose State, batted .313 (5-for-16) with two doubles, two home runs, four runs scored, seven RBI and she took four walks. Her first career home run game in Drake’s win over Kansas City and Sunday in the team’s final game, also against Kansas City, she hit her second that tied the game.
Dani Brown - Loyola
Brown went 0-1 with a 2.48 ERA last week, fanning 11 in 14.1 innings of work over three appearances. She struck out seven in 6.0 innings of work versus Florida Gulf Coast on March 5 and allowed only one earned run in 4.0 innings against Iowa one day later.
Olivia Krehbiel – Missouri State
Krehbiel extended her hitting streak to a team-best six games on Friday with games against Murray State and No. 14 Oklahoma State while going on to hit .357 for the weekend. She went 3-4 with two doubles, two runs scored, and an RBI against the Racers before adding a hit and scoring a run in the following game against OSU. Krehbiel plated two runs with her sixth double of the season in Saturday’s contest against No. 6 Oklahoma.
Aubree DePron - Southern Illinois
Aubree DePron hit .600 (3-for-5) with a .667 on-base percentage as she helped SIU go 4-0 at the Saluki Invitational. DePron notched a walk, a RBI and stole three bases without being caught. The freshman from Blanchard Okla. recorded a hit in all three games that she played in, including her first collegiate RBI in SIU’s 11-1 win over Northern Illinois. Against DePaul, she went 1-for-2, and did likewise in Southern’s win over IUPUI, as she went 1-for-2 with a walk, a stolen base and two runs scored.
Easton Seib - Valpo
In three appearances last week, Seib struck out 10 batters in 12 innings of work and posted a .209 batting average against and a 1.00 WHIP. Seib’s week was highlighted by her performance against Niagara, where she entered in relief and surrendered just one run over three innings of international tiebreak softball to earn the win. She also tossed four innings without allowing an earned run in Valpo’s win over Cleveland State as well. Seib currently ranks sixth among MVC pitchers in ERA.