Final 2019 Softball Players of the Week Announced
MAC Softball Co-Pitchers of the Week
Courtney Vierstra, Miami
Pitcher, Sophomore Thornville, Ohio (Lakewood)
Courtney Vierstra earned all five wins in the circle in a perfect 5-0 week for Miami as the RedHawks captured their first MAC Regular Season Championship in program history. Vierstra pitched 25.1 innings, going the distance twice with one of those being a shutout. She only gave up 14 hits and four walks while adding 39 strikeouts. Opponents batted just .159 against Vierstra this week. Her most impressive outing of the week was the complete-game shutout against Akron in the first game of the series. Vierstra allowed just two hits and walked nobody in the contest as she struck out 12. She struck out at least 10 batters in a single game on two occasions this week with the other being against NKU in the first game of the doubleheader. Vierstra came into two games in relief this week and did not give up a run nor a hit in either appearance. With her 39 strikeouts this week, Vierstra has 233 this season, the third-most in a single season in program history. Even though she is only a sophomore, she already ranks eighth in program history with 394 career strikeouts. Vierstra leads the MAC in ERA (1.89) and strikeouts while making nine other top-10 appearances.
Andrea Scali, Kent State
Pitcher, Redshirt freshman, Parma, Ohio / Parma
Kent State redshirt freshman pitcher Andrea Scali threw just the fourth perfect game in program history on Saturday afternoon against Bowling Green while striking out a career-high 14. The perfect game is the second in Kent State history that went seven innings and the first since 1983. She also pitched an inning of relief work during the second game of the doubleheader and for the week totaled 8.0 innings pitching with one hit and walk allowed while striking out 15 and limited the opposition to a .143 batting average. The redshirt freshman from Parma, Ohio became the first freshman pitcher to throw three no-hitters in the same season in program history.
MAC Softball Player of the Week
Stacy Payton, Ball State
2B / 3B, Sophomore, Brazil, Ind./Northview
Sophomore infielder Stacy Payton had a monster of a day Saturday in Fort Wayne, blasting three home runs in driving in eight RBI’s in Ball State softball’s 10-0 (5) victory over Oakland to end the regular season. Payton, who also collected a single in the 4-3 opening-game victory over Purdue Fort Wayne, finished the day with a .667 batting average, a 2.167 slugging percentage and led the Cardinals in hits (4) and RBI (8), while tying for the team-lead in runs scored (3).
Other Player Nominees
Kira Mickelson, Northern Illinois
Catcher, Sophomore, Wheatland, Wis./Westosha
Kira Mickelson led the way for NIU in its series win over Western Michigan. The Huskie sophomore catcher batted .400, with four hits, including a double, and three RBIs. She started all three games, two at catcher. Mickelson, a native of Wheatland, Wis., opened the scoring in the Huskies' 4-3, 11-inning victory over the Broncos in the series opener. She followed up that performance with a 2-for-3, two RBI effort in NIU's 8-7 setback to Western Michigan.
Erika Underwood, Central Michigan
First Base, Senior, Addison, Mich./Addison HS
Senior first baseman Erika Underwood collected three hits including a double and a home run in posting an .875 slugging percentage in the Chippewas' three-game series at Toledo. Underwood's first-inning two-run homer sparked the Chippewas to a 6-2 victory in the second game of a doubleheader on Saturday. The home run was her eighth of the season and she increased her team-leading RBI total to 31.
Skyler Sobeski, Western Michigan
Third Base, Sr. Bronson, Mich. (Bronson)
Senior third baseman Skyler Sobeski paced the Western Michigan offense over the weekend, totaling five hits during the doubleheader split at Northern Illinois on Saturday. Sobeski hit a three-run home run in the second game of the series while turning in a .455 batting average.
Ashton Slone, Miami
Infielder, Sophomore, Plainfield, Ind.
Sophomore infielder Ashton Slone led the Miami offense to a perfect 5-0 week that ended in the program's first-ever MAC Regular Season Championship. Slone batted .500 on the week, including a team-high seven hits, two doubles, seven RBI, five walks and an on-base percentage of .632. She also slugged .857 on the week, hit a home run and had 12 total bases. Slone had at least one hit and one walk in each of the RedHawks' five games this week. She had two multi-hit games against Akron, going 2-of-3 with two runs, two RBI, a double and a walk in the 6-0 shutout to open the series. Slone also went 2-of-3 with two RBI, a homerun and a walk in the final game of the Akron series. She had a third multi-RBI game in the 3-2 win at NKU as she hit a long single to score Miami's first two runs of the game. With Slone's two doubles this week, she is tied for fourth in program history with 16 doubles in a season. Her seven RBI this week bring her season total to 36, the 10th-most in a single season in program history. Slone is fourth in the MAC in both doubles and RBI and makes a top-10 appearance in four other offensive categories.
Other Pitcher Nominees
Amber Bumbalough, Northern Illinois
Pitcher, Freshman, Bremerton, Wash./Klahowya Secondary
Amder Bumbalough improved to 2-1 on the season after recording her first career complete game shutout, while tallying her first career hit in NIU's 3-0 victory over Western Michigan in the regular season finale. The freshman hurler scattered six hits and two walks in the contest and laced a single to right field to help her cause.
Samantha Howell, Central Michigan
Pitcher, Sophomore, Allen Park, Mich./Allen Park HS
CMU sophomore right-hander Samantha Howell went 1-1 over the weekend in the Chippewas' three-game series at Toledo. Howell allowed 10 hits and posted a 2.31 earned run average in finishing the weekend 1-1. She struck out seven and held the Rockets to a .217 batting average over 12 1/3 innings.
Meredith Miller, Bowling Green
Pitcher, Senior, Sugar Land, Texas (Clements)
Bowling Green senior Meredith Miller went 2-0 with an ERA of 1.62 and an opponent batting average of just .188 last week. In the final home game of her career, she allowed two runs and just four hits in six innings of work, as the Falcons picked up an 8-3 victory over Cleveland State. She walked just one batter and struck out 10 in that victory. Then, in the last game of her collegiate career, Miller threw a complete-game five-hitter on the road against Kent State, as the Falcons picked up a 2-1 win. Miller again issued just one walk, striking out six Golden Flashes in the win. Miller won four consecutive decision to end her BGSU career, and finished the season with a 16-15 record. In those four outings, she walked just five batters and had 33 strikeouts in 30 innings. Miller finished with a total of 187 strikeouts this season – the third-highest single-season total in BGSU history. And, she had 456 strikeouts in her Falcon career. She ranks fifth in school history in career strikeouts, and the four players ahead of her on that list all pitched four seasons for the Falcons. Miller had 16 complete games this year, and an opponent batting average of just .232 in 2019. She ended her Falcon tenure with an overall record of 43-40, tying her for sixth all-time in wins, and she ranks third in BG history in strikeouts per seven innings.
Sydney Stefanick, Western Michigan
RHP, So., Johnstown, Ohio (Johnstown)
Sophomore Sydney Stefanick led the Bronco pitching staff over the weekend, tallying 10 strikeouts in 16 innings pitched. In game one at Northern Illinois, Stefanick pitched a season-high 10.2 innings.
