Softball

MVC Softball Weekly Notebook - April 7

This week's Missouri Valley Conference players of the week include Kenley Minor of Murray State, Maya Johnson of Belmont, Sydney Potter of Southern Illinois and Ava Boyer of Illinois State.

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


Player of the Week
Kenley Minor, Murray State, 3B, So.
Minor led the Racers at the plate across a weekend that saw the team put up 33 runs in a series at UIC. The infielder tallied a .583 batting average on the weekend with three home runs and 13 RBI.  In the series-opening 16-0 win for the Racers, Minor went 4-for-4 at the plate with a double, a home run, and a career high six RBI. The sophomore followed that up in the series finale by setting a new career high with seven RBI, including a pair of three-run homers.   

Pitcher of the Week
Maya Johnson, Belmont, R-Sr.
Johnson tossed a no-hitter in Game 1 vs Drake (4/2) earning her third of the season and her 10th shutout (tied for first in the NCAA). For the week, she went 2-0 with two complete games (14.0 innings pitched). She had 29 strikeouts and allowed only one earned run (0.50). She improved her season record to 19-1, and with the 29 Ks last week, her season strikeout total is now 265

Newcomer of the Week
Sydney Potter, Southern Illinois, C, Jr.
During SIU's three-game sweep of Indiana State, junior Sydney Potter hit two home runs with six RBI and tallied a .909 slugging percentage. Potter also walked twice, scored three runs, had one double, and tallied an on-base percentage of .385. The junior's first homer of the week was a three-run shot to left field in the third inning of game one. Potter then homered again in the first inning of game three, her 16th of the season. The catcher is now one home run away from tying SIU's single-season record (17).

Freshman of the Week
Ava Boyer, Illinois State, 2B, Fr.
Starting all three games at second base last week, Boyer led the Redbirds with a .625 batting average (5-for-8) with three doubles, an RBI and four runs scored. All three of those doubles came in her 4-for-4 day at the plate against the Fighting Illini, breaking the program record for doubles in a single game. She also posted a team-high OB% of .667 and stole two bases while recording a 1.000 FLD% with nine putouts and eight assists over the three games.

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MVC HEADLINES
  • Belmont tops five MVC softball programs that rank in the Top 150 of the RPI (through games of Sunday). The Bruins rank 43 nationally, while Southern Illinois (75) and Illinois State (89) are also in the Top 100. The MVC ranks 13th as a league.
  • Maya Johnson of Belmont leads the NCAA in a host of individual pitching categories: ERA (0.53), WHIP (0.58), strikeouts (265), strikeout-to-walk ratio (13.25), shutouts (10) and complete games (20). She's the NCAA active leader with 1,054 career strikeouts (12.01 per seven innings pitched). Johnson surpassed 1000 career strikeouts in second game of Murray State doubleheader (3/24) becoming the 101st NCAA Division I player to reach the milestone and one of two active players currently at 1,000 or more.
  • Junior Emily Williams of Southern Illinois hit a pair of grand slams during SIU's three-game sweep of Indiana State. Williams went 5-for-14 with three home runs, 10 RBI, and three runs scored against the Sycamores. The junior started off the weekend with a solo home run in game one and followed this up with a three-hit, five-RBI performance in game two. Williams launched a grand slam in the top of the second inning during SIU's 10-4 win. On Monday, which was also her birthday, Southern's DP hit her second grand slam in as many days in the seventh inning.
  • UNI's Skylar Benesh (.545) and Katelyn Callahan (.571) both hit better than .500 last week as the Panthers went 1-2, which included a split in a two-game series with Evansville. Benesh was the top run producer for UNI as she had six hits in 11 at-bats with four runs scored and 4 RBI. Callahan had four hits in seven plate appearances, and she also walked twice.
  • Drake's Frankie Rita raised her season average to .320 with a 3-for-4 performance in the series finale against Belmont on Saturday. She leads Drake in hitting and runs scored (19), and she's tied for the team lead with eight doubles this year.
  • SIU freshman pitcher Brooklynn Danielson went 1-0 with a 1.00 ERA as the Salukis swept Indiana State in Terre Haute. Danielson tossed a complete game in game one of the series and allowed seven hits, one run, and one walk with three strikeouts. The freshman registered 1-2-3 innings in the third, fifth, and seventh during the win. Against Valley opponents, Danielson now has a 1.30 ERA in eight appearances and six starts.
  • Valpo's Mack Gallagher tallied multiple hits and drove in multiple runs in both games of Valpo's doubleheader against Illinois State last week. The senior connected on her eighth homer of the season to give the Beacons a 2-0 lead in the opening inning of the first game, and then in the nightcap, delivered a two-run single in the first inning to give Valpo the lead for good as it won its first game over the Redbirds since 2018. Gallagher, who knocked in an insurance run in the sixth inning of the win as well, finished the day 4-for-6 with a walk and five RBIs.
  • Murray State's Bre Haislip pitched complete games in each of the Murray State wins at UIC, finishing the weekend with a 0.66 ERA.  In the series opener, the senior allowed just two hits and no runs while tallying five strikeouts and walking two batters through five innings.  She followed that up in the series finale with three strikeouts and just one earned run while allowing four hits across five innings.  
  • Evansville sophomore Maliyah Wilkins had a near perfect game in UE's 10-7 win against UNI on Friday.  After going 0-4 in the first two games of the week, Wilkins was at her best in Friday’s victory. Wilkins went a perfect 4-for-4 with a run, double, and RBI. It was her top hit tally of the season. 
  • Illinois State's Bella Atkinson hit .500 (5-for-10) with a double two homers and two runs scored in ISU's three games last week. She led the Redbirds with eight RBIs and a 1.200 SLG%. Atkinson posted a standout game against Valpo on Friday, going 3-for-4 with two home runs and six RBIs. She was also perfect in the field at third base, recording a team-high 12 assists over the three contests.
  • Taylor Howe of Evansville led the way for the Purple Aces over the last week batting .556 with three runs and an RBI. Howe opened the week going 2-for-3 with two runs in the win over Bellarmine. She followed that up with another 2-3 game in the opener against UNI while adding an RBI and double. In the game two win over the Panthers, Howe went 1-3 while scoring her third run of the week. She completed the week going 5-for-9 while striking out just once.
  • Belmont freshman Lydia Vanderwoude had a solid week for the Bruins as she hit .268 with a double, triple, 3 RBI and two runs (.268 average). Newcomer Emily Konz started all 3 games for Belmont and hit .276 with 4 RBI, two doubles, two steals, three runs and four hits. And Maddy Balsiger hit .298 last week with a double, an RBI, a steal, and four runs while collecting five hits.
  • Paige McLeod of Illinois State went 2-0 in the circle this past week with wins over Illinois and Valparaiso. In 11 total innings pitched, McLeod allowed two earned runs on 12 hits and struck out four for an ERA of 1.27. She posted her sixth complete game of the season against Valpo on Friday, improving to 14-3 on the season. Her 14 wins rank second in the conference.
  • Valparaiso senior Azalya Lopez posted a strong effort in relief of Valpo's nightcap at Illinois State, earning her sixth win of the year as she helped the program to its first win over the Redbirds since 2018. She entered with the potential tying run on base in the third inning and kept it from scoring. Lopez went on to toss 3.1 shutout innings, as no runner made it past second base during her time in the circle.
  • Indiana State dropped three games against Southern Illinois this week, but a pair of Sycamores hit better than .400 in ISU's four-game week (Indiana State defeated Eastern Illinois this past Tuesday.)  Madison Poulson collected six hits in 13 at-bats (with two walks) for a .462 average, and she had two steals in two attempts.  Poulson now has 10 steals on 13 tries this year. Teammate Morgan Goodrich leads ISU with 21 steals (in 23 attempts). Claire Connelly knocked in three runs last week and was 6-for-14 (.429).
  • Freshman Allie Waldron of Murray State hit .500 on the weekend at UIC, tallying five RBI on four hits and walking four times.  The St. Louis native also recorded 15 putouts from behind the plate with three assists and no errors. 
  • UIC's Siena Stickney had a tremendous week at the plate for the Flames as she collected five hits in eight at bats while UIC won the middle game of a three-game series against Murray State.  She also scored a run, knocked in a run, and walked once.
  • Bradley is back in action this weekend with a three-game series in Murray, Ky. The Braves last played on March 30 (a 5-2 win against Drake). Three Bradley players sport batting averages of .300 or better, including Morgan Schlosser (.339), Austin Comstock (.330) and Olivia Turner (.302).