Softball

MVC Softball Weekly Notebook (April 21)

This week's Missouri Valley Conference players of the week include Tatum Aragon of Drake; Emily Delgado of Southern Illinois; Maliyah Wilkins of Evansville; and Pearson Hall of Drake.

KEY LINKS
NCAA Stats & Ranking Summary
NCAA Softball Records
MVC Softball Record Book
MVC Standings / Stats / Schedule

Player of the Week
Tatum Aragon, Drake, Sr.
Helped Drake to a winning week with a mark of 3-2 .. Hit .357 for the week (5-14) with three home runs, six RBI, and four runs scored. Exploded with a three home run performance in a 14-5 victory at UNI last Monday. Aragon went 4-for-5 overall in the game with her four hits being the most in a single game by a Drake player this season. Her three-homer outing fueled Drake to hitting a program record six long balls in the contest. Her three-HR game is tied for the most home runs hit by a player in a single game in all of Division I this season.

Pitcher of the Week
Emily Delgado, Southern Illinois, Jr.
During SIU's sweep of UNI, junior pitcher Emily Delgado had a record of 2-0 with one save in her three appearances. Delgado posted a 0.00 ERA and allowed just four hits and two walks with eight strikeouts against the Panthers. The junior started off the weekend with a win in game one where she struck out three across 1.1 scoreless innings pitched. In game two, Delgado tallied her fourth save of the season with a line of 2.0 innings pitched, two hits, zero runs, one walk, and two strikeouts. On Saturday, Delgado was sharp again, earning her second win of the weekend after allowing one hit, no runs, and no walks with three strikeouts in 2.2 innings out of the bullpen.

Newcomer of the Week 
Maliyah Wilkins, Evansville, So.
Wilkins batted .467 with two home runs, seven RBI, and three runs for the Purple Aces in five games last week. The sophomore opened with a 2-3 effort against SEMO that saw her hit a home run in the 5-1 victory. On Wednesday versus Western Kentucky, Wilkins came in as a pinch hitter with the bases loaded. She sent the first pitch she saw over the left field wall for a grand slam. In the final two games of the series at Bradley, Wilkins recorded two hits in each contest. She went 2-3 with an RBI and run in game two of the series before finishing the final going 2-4.

Freshman of the Week
Pearson Hall, Drake, Fr.
Led Drake at the plate hitting .500 (7-14) for the week helping the Bulldogs to a record of 3-2. She scored two runs, had a triple, two homers, and eight RBI for the week against UNI and Valpo.  In game one against UNI she finished just a double shy of the cycle going 3-for-4 with 5 RBI in the contest. She now leads Drake with seven home runs on the season.

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MVC SOFTBALL HEADLINES
  • Belmont continues to lead three teams in the Top 100 of the NCAA softball NET rankings (through April 19). The Bruins rank 42 and are joined in the Top 100 by Southern Illinois (68) and Illinois State (79). The MVC ranks 13th as a league this year.
  • Sam Tourtillott of UIC led the Flames for the week with a .750 AVG after going 6-for-8 with one run, 6 RBI, one double, a .875 SLG% and a .750 OB%. She went 3-for-3 with four RBI in the Flames 12-4 victory over Valpo in game two. And redshirt sophomore Emily Brecht ended the week with a .545 AVG after going 6-of-11 with one run, four RBI, one double, one homer, and a .909 SLG% . Recorded her second career home run in the Flames 12-4 victory over Valpo in game two.
  • Belmont All-American Maya Johnson received a Golden Ticket from Athletes Unlimited Softball League Friday evening following the Bruins' doubleheader vs. Illinois State. A Golden Ticket was a tradition started in 2025 to signify and commemorate a player being drafted into the AUSL – quickly becoming the most prestigious honor in college softball. Johnson was presented her Golden Ticket by two-time Olympic medalist, former All-American, and ESPN broadcast personality Jessica Mendoza.
  • UNI set the school single-season record for home runs as the Panthers reached No. 80 in the series finale against Southern Illinois on Saturday. UNI's previous mark was 79 (set last year). The Panthers became just the second MVC program in league history to reach 80 dingers in a season. Illinois State holds the MVC mark with 83 homers in 2007. UNI enters the week ranked in the Top 10 nationally for home runs this year. Three Panthers are in the Top 4 in the league this season - Kate Lappe (16), Brynn Acton (16), and Skylar Benesh (15) pace UNI.
  • Against one of the top offenses in the Valley, SIU freshman pitcher Brooklynn Danielson recorded a 1.45 ERA and a team-high 11 strikeouts in SIU's sweep of Northern Iowa. Danielson also led the team with 9.2 innings pitched and with an opposing batting average of .171. In her first outing of the week in game one, the freshman allowed three hits, one run, and had six strikeouts in 5.2 innings pitched. One day later, Danielson went four innings and allowed three hits and one run with five strikeouts.
  • UNI's Katelyn Callahan started and played in all five games over the week and recorded eight hits and four runs in 15 at-bats for a .533 batting average. Callahan hit three home runs, driving in seven runs with 17 total bases for a 1.133 slugging percentage. The sophomore right fielder led the Valley last week in hits, home runs, and total bases. She hit the 11th-most home runs in Division I between Monday and Sunday and tallied the 20th-most bases in the country. Peyton Johnson batted .250 on the week with three runs and three hits in 12 at-bats. The junior outfielder hit one home run and drove in a pair with six total bases.
  • Illinois State's Paige McLeod picked up her 17th win of the season and eighth complete game outing in a 2-1 victory against Maya Johnson and the Bruins in the series opener. McLeod gave up one earned run on five hits while striking out three over seven innings of work.
  • Junior catcher Sydney Potter had a .500 batting average with four walks and three runs scored during SIU's three-game sweep of Northern Iowa. Potter's .700 on-base percentage led the team while both the batting average and runs scored ranked second. After going 1-for-3 with a run scored in game one, the catcher reached base in all four at bats in game two, finishing the contest 2-for-2 with two walks. Potter recorded another two walks and one run in the series finale on Saturday.
  • Senior Hannah Meeks started all three games at first base for Illinois State against MVC leading Belmont over the weekend. She hit .400 (4-for-10) with two home runs, one double, two walks, three RBIs and two runs scored with a 1.100 SLG% and .500 OBP%. She went 3-for-4 in the series finale with a double and a home run. She also was perfect in the field over the three games with 24 putouts.
  • Valpo senior Mack Gallagher connected on the go-ahead three-run homer in the Beacons' win Saturday at Drake. Having already entered the week among the program's single-season top-10 in walks, the blast against the Bulldogs moved Gallagher into Valpo's single-season top-10 charts for home runs and RBIs as well.
  • Ava Boyer of Illinois State started all three contests at second base last weekend against the Bruins. The freshman batted .333 (3-for-9) with two bases on balls and one run scored. She posted a team-high nine assists in the field throughout the series.
  • UNI's Brynn Acton continued her dominant freshman campaign last week with seven hits and two runs in 18 at-bats for a .389 batting average. The designated player drove in three runs with two home runs and 13 total bases for a .722 slugging percentage.
  • Indiana State freshman Addie Burns delivered one of the most efficient offensive weeks, going 4-for-8 (.500) with 5 RBI, 2 runs scored, two home runs, and a double across four games against Ball State and Murray State. Burns opened the week with a three-run homer at Ball State, then followed with a two-run shot in Friday’s series-opening win at Murray State, providing the decisive swing in a 2–1 victory.
  • Bradley sophomore Abby Rusher threw a complete-game shutout in the series-opening win against Evansville over the weekend as she allowed only one walk with four strikeouts. This was the second shutout in Rusher's time with the Braves. She ranks second in the MVC with 13 complete games this year.
  • Kate Ridgway picked up two victories in three starts last week for the Purple Aces. She started the week with a complete game win over SEMO. Ridgway struck out seven batters while allowing one run on four hits. After a tough start to the Bradley series (3.1 IP, 4 ER, 5 H), Ridgway rebounded for another complete game victory to clinch the series in the finale. She allowed an unearned run on three hits while fanning nine Bradley batters to secure her second victory of the week.
  • Murray State sophomore Katy Huels hit .667 on the weekend against Indiana State, going 4-6 at the plate with 2 RBI. Huels went 3-for-3 in game one, plating the only run of the game for the Racers. And in her only appearance of the week, Raylee Roby went the distance and got the win for Murray State in their second game against Indiana State.  She allowed just one run on five hits and issued three walks while striking out seven opposing batters. Allie Waldron finished the weekend 3-7 at the plate against Indiana State with a .429 batting average and one RBI.  In the Racers' Friday win over the Sycamores, the freshman catcher went 2-for-3 at the plate with an RBI to help power Murray State to a 5-1 win.
  • Ashlyn Enke recorded UNI's lone victory in the circle over the week, with a 4.15 ERA in three appearances and two starts. The freshman had five strikeouts in 13 innings, holding opponent batters to a .260 batting average.
  • Jayme Scheck of Drake picked up two wins over Valpo on the weekend to improve her record to 4-6…Made three appearances on the week tossing 12.2 innings…Tossed a complete game shutout against Valpo on Sunday in which she allowed just three hits in the game to go along with two strikeouts and one walk…Tallied an ERA of 3.69 for the week…Her performance against Valpo on Sunday led to Drake recording its first shutout of the season.