Rothwell and Dean Garner Softball Weekly Honors
MAC Softball Player of the Week
Tala Dean, Central Michigan
DH/LF, Sophomore, Harrow, Ont., Can./Ecole Secondaire L’Essor
Dean helped lead the Chippewas to a 3-2 finish against a strong field in the Arizona State Littlewood Classic. In her first extended action of her CMU career, Dean homered twice during a 3-for-5 performance in the Chippewas’ 10-8 victory over San Diego. Her first career round-tripper came in the previous game, a 4-3 victory. Dean went a combined 3-for-4 including a double at the plate against 14
th-ranked Arizona State and fourth-ranked Florida.
MAC Softball Pitcher of the Week
Alyssa Rothwell, Ball State
Relief Pitcher, Junior, Ashville, Ohio / Teays Valley
With a pair of saves at the Madeira Beach Invitational, Ball State junior closer Alyssa Rothwell took over sole possession of the Mid-American Conference career saves record, raising her career total to 18. The previous MAC record was 16. She is currently on pace to surpass the NCAA career record of 32.She struck out 13 total batters over 6.0 innings of work, including striking out the side versus Monmouth and fanning all seven batters she faced versus Quinnipiac. In her first of four appearances on the weekend, Rothwell entered the game versus Monmouth in the seventh inning and proceeded to strike out the side to earn her MAC-record 17th career save. She was not done there, however, picking up her second save of the weekend versus Central Arkansas. Rothwell entered in the sixth and threw the final two innings to earn her fourth save of the season. She struck out three batters, including the final two of the game, while raising her career saves total to 18. She turned in an even more impressive performance in earning the relief win over Quinnipiac Sunday, taking control over the final 2.1 innings by striking out all seven batters she faced to keep the visitors off the board as the Cardinals rallied from down 2-1 with single runs in the seventh and eighth to win the game.
Other Player Nominees
Katie Yun, Ohio
SS, Sophomore, North Canton
Sophomore Katie Yun led the Bobcats at the plate this weekend at the 2019 Gamecock Invitational hosted by South Carolina.. Overall, Fun hit .400 with six hits, three doubles, six RBI and a .600 slugging percentage. She also had a .412 on base percentage and scored two runs. On Feb. 15 against #15 South Carolina, Run went 1-of-4 with a two RBI single in the top of the seventh inning. Run came back on Saturday and went 3-of-4 with two doubles and three RBI in Ohio's 4-3 extra innings loss to UNCG. Then on Sunday, Feb. 17, Run went 1-of-3 with an RBI in Ohio's win against Campbell and closed out the weekend with a 1-for-4 showing with a doubled two runs scored in Ohios 8-6 victory over Charlotte.
Megan Choate, Toledo
2B, Senior, Montesano, Wash./ Montesano
Senior 2B Megan Choate was a cornerstone in Toledo’s lineup this weekend and helped the Rockets go 3-1 in the UT Chattanooga Challenge. Choate hit .500 with a two-run homer, 3 RBIs, two doubles, six walks and one HBP over the weekend, and recorded a .733 OBP while primarily batting in the two slot. With Choate’s contributions, Toledo was able to top Dayton (W, 6-5), Kennesaw State (W, 4-3), Indiana State (L, 5-1) and Tennessee Tech (W, 7-4).
Johniann Wahl, Miami University
Infielder, Senior, Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.
Senior infielder Johniann Wahl helped lead the RedHawks to four wins at the UNLV Tournament last weekend to improve to 6-4 on the season. In the extra-inning win against UC Davis, Wahl hit a two-run home run that tied the game in the third inning and a sacrifice fly to tie the game in the top of the seventh inning and force extra innings. She had three RBI in the UC Davis win. Wahl had two-hit games in the first win against Utah Valley and the win against the host team, UNLV, to hand them their first loss of the season. Wahl had a team-high six hits this weekend and was perfect in the field with the second-most putouts on the team. She was second on the team in batting average (.375) and tied for second with four RBI.
Kira Mickelson, Northern Illinois
DH/C, So., Wheatland, Wis./Westosha Central
Kira Mickelson was the catalyst to the Huskie offense in their 3-2 weekend at the 29th Annual Campbell/Cartier Classic hosted by San Diego State. Mickelson, who started at DP in three games and catcher in two, led the team with nine hits and an on-base percentage of .588.. She began the tournament a perfect 3-for-3 in NIU's 8-0 victory over UC Santa Barbara, before going 3-for-4 at San Diego State. She went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored in the Huskies' 13-2 win over Middle Tennessee. Mickelson went 1-for-3 in NIU's 3-2 come-from-behind win over Grand Canyon, with her one hit, a two-out two-run single to center, tying the game at 2-2. It kept the inning alive for Abby Howlett to drive in the winning run.
Hannah Bardeen, Buffalo
Catcher, Freshman, Amherst, NY / Amherst
Freshman Hannah Bardeen had a breakout performance at the Red & Black Showcase, finishing with a .500 batting average, recording eight RBI on five hits, including two doubles, and three runs scored while recording a 1.300 slugging percentage and .545 on base percentage.
Samantha Malik, Akron
2B, Junior, Orlando, Fla. / Lake Brantley HS
Junior Samantha Malik helped pace the Akron offense at the Madeira Beach Tournament that saw the Zips head back to Akron, Ohio with three wins in five games. Malik recorded a line of .385/.769/.385 over the course of a three-day span which included five hits, two doubles, her first Akron career home run, three RBI, 10 total bases, and a stolen base. Against Drexel, Malik turned in her best single-game performance of the weekend going 2-for-3, drove in two RBI, scored two runs, recorded her first home run of the season, and had a putout and assist in the field The junior second baseman raised her season numbers to .414/.655/.433, has a team-high four doubles, second-most hits (12), home runs (1), total bases (19), and runs scored (7).
Janae Hogg, Ball State
First Base, Junior, Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral
Ball State junior slugger Janae Hogg played a big role in the Cardinals posting a 4-2 record at the Madeira Beach Invitational, batting .333 for the weekend and providing three home runs, each of which drove in what proved to be the game-winning run.She reached base safely in all six games, including drawing seven total walks as teams started pitching around one of Ball State’s top offensive threats.Hogg would blast home runs in three consecutive games, starting with a first inning solo shot in the 3-0 win over Monmouth to drive in what proved to be the game-winning run. She followed with a three-run shot in the first inning of the 3-0 win over Central Arkansas to drive in her second game-winning run of the day. Her final home run of the weekend provided a third-straight game-winning run, as she opened the scoring in Ball State’s 9-0 (5) win over Delaware with a two-run blast in the third inning. Hogg has now driving in 18 game-winning runs over her Ball State career, including four so far this season. Of the 18 game-winning RBI, 12 have come via the long ball.
Other Pitcher Nominees
Mackensie Kohl, Ohio
Pitcher, Freshman, Corona Del Mar, Calif. / Mater Dei
Freshman Mackensie Kohl led Ohio in the circle this past weekend. She went 1-1 with a 2.62 ERA, allowing five earned runs on 13 hits in 13.1inning, while walking seven and striking out 11. On Feb. 16 against UNCG, Kohl allowed four runs on six hits in 7.1 innings, she walked two and struck out 4. Then On Feb. 17 against Charlotte, she pitched six innings, allowing two runs on seven hits, walked five and struck out seven.
Mackenzie Bryan, Northern Illinois
Pitcher, So., Elwood, Ind./Elwood
Mackenzie Bryan was in the circle for two of NIU's three wins at the 28th Annual Campbell/Cartier Classic. The Huskie sophomore went 2-1 in four appearances with a 1.14 ERA, while holding opponents to a .288 batting average. She began the weekend throwing a five-inning shutout victory over UC Santa Barbara holding the Gauchos to five hits and a walk while striking out five. Bryan was just as strong in her second start, going six innings, allowing two runs, one earned, while scattering nine hits and striking out four.
Adrian Smith, Akron
Pitcher, Junior, St. Clairsville, Ohio / St. Clairsville HS
Adrian Smith appeared in four of the Zips five contests this past weekend at the Madeira Beach Tournament. The junior recorded a 2-1 record, a 3.29 ERA, one complete game, and a combined shutout. In 17 innings of work, Smith surrendered 19 hits, 10 runs, 8 earned, and struck out 12. Smith picked up her third and fourth win of the season against Drexel and Holy Cross. The righty struck out four batters in three straight games, surrendered just two hits against Holy Cross and did not give up a run.
