MAC Announces Softball Players of the Week
MAC Softball Pitcher Of The Week
Andrea Scali, Kent State
Pitcher, Redshirt freshman, Parma, Ohio / Parma
Kent State redshirt freshman pitcher Andrea Scali turned in another fabulous week inside the circle, taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning and recording two victories against #21 Baylor. She threw 18 total innings and limited the opposition to a .136 batting average with a 0.78 ERA and 26 strikeouts to five walks while posting three total wins. The Parma, Ohio native allowed the first earned run of her career in the second game against #21 Baylor after 31 innings of work without an earned run. On Friday against North Texas, Scali took a no-hitter into the seventh inning. The Golden Flashes shutout the Mean Green 6-0 and Scali tied her career high with 12 strikeouts. It’s the only time UNT (10-4) has been shut out all season. Scali was integral in a historic day as the Flashes won two games in the same day over a ranked opponent against #21 Baylor. She was dominant in the first game against the Lady Bears as the potent Baylor offense was shutout for the only time this year in the 1-0 win. Scali went the distance and spun a two-hitter with 11 strikeouts. She scattered two harmless singles and became the first pitcher to throw a two-hitter against the Lady Bears since #2 Oklahoma’s All-American Paige Parker did so last year on March 29th. Her 11 strikeouts are the most for the Lady Bears since facing #2 Florida’s All-American Kelly Barnhill on March 3rd of last season. The Golden Flashes won their first game over a ranked opponent since a 3-0 victory at #3 Michigan in 2015. In the nightcap, Scali entered out of the bullpen and received the victory in four innings of work in Kent State’s extra-inning 6-5 victory. She struck out three and allowed two earned runs in her relief work and took the Flashes into extra innings and with the international tiebreaker in effect, did not allow the Baylor runner past third base.
MAC Softball Player of the Week
Sarah Gonzalez, Bowling Green
Third Base, Sophomore, Kingsburg, Calif. (Kingsburg)
Bowling Green sophomore 3B Sarah Gonzalez was a key contributor as BGSU went 4-1 at the GWU Tournament over the weekend. Gonzalez tied for the team lead with a .412 batting average, going 7-for-17 in the five games. Six of those seven hits went for extra bases, as she had five doubles and a grand slam, and she led the team with a slugging percentage of .882. Gonzalez had at least one hit in each of the five games. On Friday, she went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles and a walk in BG’s 8-7 win over defending Northeast Conference champion Saint Francis, scoring BG’s eighth run of the game. Then, in the nightcap, Gonzalez hit a grand slam in the eighth inning, giving BG a five-run lead, and BG would need every one of those runs as the Falcons held off a late charge by host Gardner-Webb. On Saturday, Gonzalez had a three-run double in the first inning, giving BG an early lead in what would prove to be a 7-4 win over GWU. She had a total of seven RBI in back-to-back at-bats vs. the Runnin’ Bulldogs. Saturday’s second game saw Gonzalez double and walk in three plate appearances as BG topped East Tennessee State, 3-0. On Sunday, she was 2-for-5 with yet another double and two runs scored in BG’s lone loss of the weekend, vs. SFU.
Other Pitcher Nominees
Madi McCrady, Ohio
Pitcher, Sophomore, Brimfield, Ohio / Walsh Jesuit
Sophomore pitcher Madi McCrady led Ohio this past weekend, going 1-1 in Carbondale. Overall, McCrady had a 1.08 ERA in 13 innings, allowing two runs on five hits, while walking eight and striking out 18. She also registered her first shutout of the season. On Feb. 22 against Evansville, McCrady pitched six innings, allowing no runs on two hits, walked three and struck out 10 for her first shutout of the year in the 5-0 win. On Feb. 24 against SIU, McCrady allowed two runs on three hits, walked five and struck out eight.
Meredith Miller, Bowling Green
Pitcher, Senior, Sugar Land, Texas (Clements)
Bowling Green senior Meredith Miller was 3-0 with a 2.51 ERA as the Falcons won four of five games at the GWU Tournament. Miller saw action in four of BG’s five weekend games, with two complete games among her three starts. She allowed opponents to bat just .165 against her. On Friday, she picked up the win in relief with 2 2/3 innings of one-hit ball vs. defending Northeast Conference champion Saint Francis (Pa.). Then, later that day, she took a one-hit shutout into extra innings against host Gardner-Webb. She wound up allowing two earned runs and three hits in the complete-game victory over the Runnin’ Bulldogs. In that win, she struck out a career-high 17 batters. BGSU single-game records are incomplete, but the strikeout total is the highest by a BG pitcher since at least 1995. On Saturday, Miller again allowed no runs and just one hit through seven innings, and this time, that was enough for a win in regulation, as the Falcons defeated East Tennessee State, 3-0. She retired 14-straight batters before allowing a two-out walk in the sixth, then struck out the next ETSU hitter to end the inning before retiring the side in order in the seventh.
Sarah Venker, Ball State
Starting Pitcher, Freshman, Houston, Texas / Episcopal
Freshman Sarah Venker continued to shine for the Ball State pitching staff at the Silicon Valley Classic I, throwing a team-high 17.0 innings over three starts to compile a 2-0 record, a 0.82 ERA and a .180 batting average against. In her first start of the weekend, Venker threw 6.0 innings of no-hit softball before finally surrendering Northern Colorado's lone hit of the game in the top of the seventh. More impressive, she struck out a career-high 10 batters in the contest and helped the Cardinals secure their fifth shutout win of the season. In her start versus Utah State, Venker limited the opposition to three hits and one run over 4.0 innings of work, while striking out a pair of batters. The Cardinals would go on to win the game 5-2 in extra innings. Venker closed the weekend with another strong performance, falling one out shy of pitching a complete game shutout. Over 7.0 innings, she limited Montana to seven hits and one run, a two-out home run in the bottom of the seventh, while helping guide the Cardinals to a 9-1 victory. She also struck out four batters in them game. Venker is 5-0 in the circle this season, with a 0.89 ERA and 30 strikeouts over 31.1 innings of work. She is limiting opposing batters to a .161 average as well.
Other Player Nominees
Katie Keller, Northern Illinois
C/1B, Freshman, Geneva, Ill./Geneva
Katie Keller led the way for NIU at the Houston Classic, in NIU's victories over Incarnate Word. She went 5-for-5 in those games with a run scored and an RBI. She finished the weekend with a .600 batting average, going 6-for-10 at the plate, with two of those hits going for doubles. Keller, a freshman started two games at catcher and the other two at first base. Her biggest game of the weekend came in the tournament finale where she went 3-for-3 with an RBI and run scored in the Huskies' 3-0 win over Incarnate Word.
Kayla Wulf, Akron
Catcher, Sophomore, Maumee, Ohio | Maumee HS
Sophomore Kayla Wulf paced the Akron offense at the Black and Orange Tournament hosted by Mercer University this past weekend. Wulf posted a .417/1.083/.533 slash line in all five games. On the three day tournament, Wulf recorded five hits, two doubles, two home runs, five RBI, scored three runs, and totaled 13 bases. Wulf recorded at least one hit in all five contests, went 2-for-3 with two doubles, two RBI, and a run scored in the win against NC A&T, and hit one home run in each of the Zips two games against Mercer. The Zips catcher raised her season numbers to .410/641.511 including a 1.152 OPS, a team-high 13 RBI, the second-most hits (16), doubles (3), and total bases (25).
Kaitlyn Miller, Kent State
Utility, Sophomore, Pickerington, Ohio / Pickerington Central
Kent State sophomore infielder Kaitlyn Miller played a large part in the Golden Flashes’ historic weekend with two victories over a top-25 team in the same day for the first time in program history. Miller hit .375 (6-for-16) with two extra-base hits, three RBIs and two runs scored. She played a large role in KSU’s two wins over #21 Baylor and was selected to the Baylor Invitational All-Tournament Team. In the weekend-opening 6-0 victory against North Texas, the sophomore recorded a double and an RBI and a run scored. She went 1-for-2 with a base hit against #10 Louisiana before going 1-for-4 against #21 Baylor in Kent State’s 1-0 victory. In the nightcap slugfest, she went a perfect 3-for-3 with a pair of runs scored and two RBIs in the 6-5 extra-inning triumph. The Pickerington, Ohio native singled to right to drive in KSU’s third run of the game and then doubled in another run in the fourth. Miller leads the Flashes with a .387 batting average this season and is tied for the club lead with eight runs driven in. Kent State has won four games against Power 5 competition this season.
Haley Dominique, Ball State
LF, Junior, Oregon, Ohio / Clay
Ball State junior left fielder Haley Dominique opened the scoring for Ball State at the Silicon Valley Classic with an RBI triple in the fifth inning of the opener versus Northern Colorado and never looked back. Dominique led the Ball State offense in hits (7), RBI (7) and runs scored (5) over the five game set, including driving in the game-winning runs versus Northern Colorado and Montana. She registered the Cardinals' first three-hit game of the year versus Northern Colorado, with an RBI triple (5th), an RBI single (6th) and a two-RBI triple (7th). She added her first double of the weekend at San Jose State, while also depositing a two-run double into center field in the finale versus Montana to drove in what proved to the the winning run of the contest.
