This week's Missouri Valley Conference softball players of the week include Jenny Jansen of Southern Illinois, Easton Sieb of Valparaiso and Delainey Bryant of Illinois State.
Softball Weekly Notebook (PDF)
MVC Player of the Week
Jenny Jansen, Southern Illinois
Sr., 1B, Warrenton, Mo.
Jenny Jansen slashed .714/1.143/.714 as SIU won swept its doubleheader from Illinois State to lock up the third seed in next week’s MVC Tournament. Jansen was 5-for-7 with a home run, two runs scored and three RBI. She recorded multiple hits in both games, which included her fourth three-hit game of the season. The Warrenton, Mo. native went 3-for-3 with a home run and two runs scored in SIU’s 13-3 run-rule win over Illinois State in the opener. She followed with a pair of hits and two RBI in SIU’s 8-3 win in the nightcap.
MVC Pitcher of the Week
Easton Sieb, Valparaiso
Jr., P, Blue Springs, Mo.
Seib was spectacular in her two starts against Evansville last weekend, earning a pair of victories to help lift Valpo to the series win over the Purple Aces. She gave up just one unearned run in 12 innings of work, posting a perfect 0.00 ERA, and allowed Evansville hitters to bat just .159 off of her. In the series opener, Seib threw a complete-game four-hitter, and after the Aces scored an unearned run in the top of the second, allowed just one runner to reach scoring position the rest of the way. Then, the series finale saw Seib toss a three-hit shutout, matching her season low for hits allowed in her third shutout of the year.
MVC Newcomer of the Week
Delainey Bryant, Illinois State
Fr., UT, Mattoon, Ill.
Another stellar series for the freshman shortstop, Delainey Bryant. In the doubleheader against Southern Illinois. Bryant posted two multi-hit games, her 12th and 13th multi-hit contests this season which ties her for second most on the team. She was 2-for-3 in the first game with a double, an RBI, and a run scored. In game two, Bryant was 2-for-3 again, knocking a pair of singles in the first and sixth innings. Overall, she hit .667 in the series with an .833 slugging percentage. Her season average boosted to .324 which is second overall on the team, and she leads the team in RBI (29) and runs scored (35). She extended her hit streak to five games.
Player of the Week - Others Nominated
Lucy Mead - Bradley
Hitting .600 in the weekend series against Northern Iowa, Mead collected 40 percent of Bradley’s hits in the series against the Panthers as she went 6-for-10 with two doubles, one RBI and one stolen base. In the opener, Mead tied a career-best with two doubles, tying the game at 1-1 with a first-inning RBI double. She also added a two-out double in the third inning with the score knotted at 1-1. In the nightcap, she posted the fifth three-hit game of her career and reached base in all four plate appearances. Mead helped Bradley load the bases in the bottom of the first with a bunt single and added another single in the third. The Braves loaded the bases again in the fifth when she reached on a dropped third strike and capped a 3-for-4 effort at the plate with a two-out seventh inning single. In Sunday’s 2-1 victory against UNI, Mead was 1-for-3 with a first-inning single.
Rebecca Moffett - Illinois State
5th-year senior Rebecca Moffett served as the Redbirds’ designated player in the series against Southern Illinois. Overall, she was 2-for-5 with a triple, a stolen base and two runs scored. In the first game against SIU, Moffett hit her first career triple and then came around to score on a sacrifice fly. In game two, Moffett was 1-for-3, collecting another run scored as well as her 6th stolen base of the season. She had a .400 on base percentage and .800 slugging over the doubleheader.
Amelia Thomas - Loyola
Amelia Thomas had a stellar week at the plate and in the field for the Ramblers. She averaged a .500 batting average, getting four hits and four runs in eight at-bats. She also managed an on-base percentage of .556 and a slugging percentage of 1.250. Her best game of the weekend was in the second game, where she had three of the team’s nine runs thanks to her two hits, one of which was a double. She also had a home run and a triple in the first game keep the game close with the Sycamores. She also finished with 15 putouts and an assist to help in the field.
Emmy Wells - UNI
Wells continues to lead the Panthers in conference play with the conclusion of the regular season this past week. In four games against in-state rivals Iowa and Bradley, Wells had a .375 average with a 1.500 slugging percentage. Wells added three more home runs to make her season total 19, the second best in UNI program history and first in the MVC. Wells also added four walks and one hit by pitch for a .615 on base percentage this week while only being struck out once. Behind the plate Wells led the team in putouts with 43 while having 1 assist in the Panthers first game against Bradley.
Lauren Kehlenbrink - Valparaiso
Kehlenbrink capped off a stellar season at the plate in conference play with her best weekend of the MVC slate. She slashed .625/.727/1.125 in the series victory over Evansville, going 5-for-8 with four RBIs, four doubles and three walks. Kehlenbrink reached base multiple times in all three games. She tallied a two-out, two-run double in the second inning of the series opener, extending a 2-1 lead to 4-1 in an eventual 5-1 win. Her RBI single in the sixth inning of the middle game of the series tied the game and forced extra innings, and she then connected on a one-out double in the bottom of the eighth to give Valpo a potential tying run in scoring position. In the finale, Kehlenbrink’s first-inning RBI double opened the scoring and she proceeded to score Valpo’s second run before being walked in each of her final two plate appearances.
Pitcher of the Week - Others Nominated
Grace French - Bradley
French went 1-1 with a 2.62 ERA, limiting Northern Iowa to a .162 average in her 10.2 innings of work. On Senior Day, French faced one over the minimum as she finished one short of matching a career high with five strikeouts. UNI managed just one hit in French’s complete game to earn her team-best 10th victory of the season as Bradley snapped the Panthers’ 17-game MVC win streak with the 2-1 victory. French helped her own effort by sparking a sixth-inning rally with a one-out double and eventually scored the tying run later in the inning. Sunday’s win against UNI made French Bradley’s first 10-game winner since 2015. She struck out three and scattered five hits and four runs (three earned) in 3.2 innings in the series opener.
Nicole Timmons - Drake
Timmons made three appearances in the Bulldogs four games this past week. She recorded her first shutout of the season and recorded four strikeouts in the Bulldogs third meeting with Missouri State. She tallied seven strikeouts total on the week. She leads the Drake pitchers with a 6-10 record this season. In her three games, she gave up only two runs and held an ERA of 1.56.
Lexi Benko - Indiana State
The ace for the Sycamores went 2-0 over the weekend against Loyola Chicago, throwing two complete games including an eight-inning outing on Saturday where she struck out a career-high 10 batters in Indiana State’s 3-2 win over the Ramblers. She allowed just two runs over 13 innings of work while striking out 11 total hitters and walking just one. Her 13 wins this season are the most by a Sycamore pitcher since 2017.
Samantha Heyer - UNI
It was another strong week in the circle for Heyer in appearances against Iowa and Bradley. Through 10 innings of work, Heyer registered a 0.70 ERA with only 1 earned run in 8 hits. Heyer picked up her 5th complete game and 10th win against Bradley on Saturday, a career best. Along with setting a career best in wins per season, Heyer threw 16 strikeouts with an 11 strikeout performance against Bradley. In a relief performance against Iowa, Heyer gave up no runs and struck out 5 in just three innings of work.
Newcomer of the Week - Others Nominated
Mya Dodge - UNI
Dodge finished her freshman regular season with another week of strong performances. Dodge reached base in all four games this past week with three hits and three walks. Dodge had the Panthers only hit of the game against Bradley on Sunday with a solo home run to right center field in the top of the 4th inning. Over the week, Dodge slashed .250/.583/.400 with a double, a home run and a single. Dodge also stole 2 bases for the Panthers over the week.