Softball Pitcher of the Week
Courtney Vierstra, Miami University
Pitcher, Thornville, Ohio/Lakewood
Courtney Vierstra earned her 22nd and 23rd wins over the weekend and now stands at 23-3 on the season after the RedHawks swept the Kent State Golden Flashes last weekend in Oxford. Vierstra went the distance in the opening game of the series, earning a 3-0 shutout victory, her 11th shutout of the season. On Saturday, the senior from Thornville, Ohio, again went the distance in a 3-1 victory. Vierstra also earned saves in each of the other two Miami victories over the weekend, coming in in the fifth inning of each game to hold the Flashes scoreless. For the weekend, Vierstra pitched 19 innings and had a 0.00 ERA, allowing one unearned run. The senior pitcher walked only two while striking out 30 and holding opposing batters to a .159 average.
Softball Player of the Week
Madi McCoy, Bowling Green
Shortstop, Senior, Washington, Ill. (Washington)
Bowling Green’s Madi McCoy hit .571 with a slugging percentage of 1.333 as the Falcons went 5-1 last week. She drove in a run in the first game and had a hit in the second game as BGSU swept a DH from Western Michigan on Tuesday. Then, she hit .688 (11-for-16) with a slugging pct. of 1.688 in the Falcons’ four-game series at Northern Illinois. During the NIU series, McCoy reached base in 10 consecutive plate appearances, and after the Huskies finally got her out (on a line drive to RF), she homered in her final two at-bats in the series. She had a hit in BG’s 1-0 win in the series opener in DeKalb, then went 10-for-12 (.833) over the final three games of the series. In the second game of Friday’s DH, McCoy set a school record for hits in a game, going 5-for-5, and she had two doubles and two homers among those five hits. McCoy went 2-for-3 with two more doubles and a walk in Saturday’s first game, then was 3-for-4 with five RBI in the final game of the series. In that last contest, she homered two more times, for her second multiple-HR game in as many days and her third in the last week and a half. McCoy is the first player in BGSU history ever to have three multiple-homer games in a season, and she has tied the school record with four multi-HR contests in her career. On the season, McCoy is hitting .384 with 14 doubles, 11 homers, 42 RBI and a slugging pct. of .709. She is now batting .433 with a slugging pct. of .808 in MAC games.
Other Nominees
Sydney Stefanick, Western Michigan
P, Senior, Johnstown, OH / Johnstown
Stefanick picked-up a complete-game victory on her senior day, a 4-3 win over Ball State. She limited the Cardinals to six hits and three earned runs in eight innings of work (114 pitches). It marked just the sixth time in 33 league games this season Ball State was held to three or fewer runs. It was her second complete game of the series, as she also went the distance in an 8-5 loss to the Cardinals in the series opener (165 pitches).
Makenna Durieux, Toledo
Pitcher, Junior, Toledo
Junior Makenna Durieux posted a 1-0 record and 0.88 ERA with just one walk and nine strikeouts in two appearances last week. Highlighting Durieux's week was a complete-game three-hitter in which she allowed Western Michigan just one run in 5.0 innings of the Rockets' 9-1 victory on Wednesday. Durieux also pitched three innings of scoreless relief with five strikeouts against Central Michigan on Tuesday.
Mackenzie Bryan, Northern Illinois University
Pitcher, Senior, Elwood, Ind./Elwood
Mackenzie Bryan was outstanding in the circle for the Huskies, toeing the rubber for all of the Huskies' victories last week. In three starts, the Huskie senior allowed 11 runs, six earned, in 16.2 inning pitched. She opened the week with a complete game victory at Ball State, holding the Cardinals to two runs on four hits, while striking out four in a 7-2 victory for NIU. She went the distance on Senior Day, allowing five runs, two earned, and scattering seven hits in a 9-5 win over Bowling Green.
Grace Lehto, Central Michigan
Pitcher, Freshman, Eaton Rapids, Mich./Eaton Rapids HS
Freshman pitcher Grace Lehto starred in the circle for the Chippewas this week, going 2-0 with a 2.33 ERA. In 15.0 innings pitched, she struck out 14 and walked none and limited opponents to a .193 batting average. On Tuesday, in the back half of a doubleheader against Toledo, Lehto threw a complete-game 3-hitter, striking out 5 while allowing just 1 run in a 3-1 win. On Friday, Lehto threw another complete game, a 5-inning, 11-0 victory over Akron. She struck out 6 while surrendering 2 hits.
Payton Gottshall, Bowling Green
Pitcher, R-Freshman, Massillon, Ohio (Perry)
Bowling Green’s Payton Gottshall pitched in all six of BGSU’s games last week, going 4-1 with a save and an opponent batting average of just .183. She picked up a win and a save in BGSU’s doubleheader sweep of Western Michigan on Tuesday, allowing just one run in a complete-game win, then throwing an inning of no-hit relief in the nightcap. In the opening game of the Northern Illinois series, Gottshall threw a five-hit shutout. The shutout was her eighth of the season, the highest total by a BGSU pitcher since 2006. Then, in game two, she threw 4 2/3 innings and did not allow a hit in a BGSU come-from-behind win. She closed the weekend with another complete-game win, scattering five hits and allowing just one earned run. On the season, Gottshall is now 19-11 with a 1.90 ERA and a school-record 271 strikeouts.
Riley Coyne, Miami University
Catcher, Junior, Chelsea, Alabama/Briarwood Christian
Riley Coyne was an offensive force for the RedHawks in their four-game sweep of Kent State last weekend. In 11 at-bats, the junior from Chelsea, Alabama went 6-for-11, hitting .545 for the weekend. Coyne had two doubles, three RBI and scored two runs for the RedHawks. Her slugging percentage for the weekend was .727 and had an on-base percentage .583 in helping the RedHawks reach their 40th win of the year.
Logan Carter, Western Michigan
1B/DP, Senior, Fenton, MI / Fenton
Carter hit four home runs in eight games on the week, highlighted by a two-home run game against Ball State. The senior connected for a grand slam and a three-run homer in a 17-11 setback to the Cardinals. She became the first Bronco with a multi-homer game since Sydney Stefanick in 2019. With seven RBI in the game, Carter was one shy of the school record, just the fifth Bronco with seven-plus RBI in a game and the first since Abby Stoner in 2017.
Katie Keller, Northern Illinois University
UTL, Junior, Geneva, Ill./Geneva
Katie Keller paced the Huskies at the plate last week, batting .538 with seven hits, including three extra base hits, in six games. She played a key role in NIU's 7-2 victory over Ball State to open the week, going 1-for-2 with two walks and three runs scored. Keller followed up that performance going 2-for-3 with a walk in the nightcap. The Huskie junior walked three times in the second of Friday's doubleheader with Bowling Green and stole three bases in the contest. In the Huskies' 9-5 in Saturday's double dip, Keller legged out a two-run inside the park home run. In addition to the pop she provided with her bat, Keller tallied eight walks.
Morgan Gardner, Central Michigan
Shortstop, Senior, Armada, Mich./Romeo
Senior shortstop Morgan Gardner had a standout week at the plate and in the field for Central Michigan, helping the Chippewas post a 5-1 record, including a weekend sweep of Akron. Gardner led CMU in hits (9), runs (9) and total bases (13). In game 2 against Toledo on Tuesday, a 3-1 win, she went 2-for-3 and scored a run. On Friday, in doubleheader sweep of Akron, Gardner was a combined 4-for-5 with 5 runs scored and 2 RBI, highlighted by her third home run of the season in game 2. Gardner also posted a 1.000 fielding percentage, recording 12 putouts with 9 assists.
Kayla Lissy, Ball State
Shortstop, Freshman, Valrico, Fla. / Durant
The Ball State softball team scored 44 runs over six games last week, with 1/4th coming from freshman shortstop Kayla Lissy. She scored a team-high eight runs, while driving in three RBI to account for 11 total runs, helping guide the Cardinals to a 4-2 record.She had at least one hit in all six games, finishing the week with a team-best .571 average on the strength of 12 hits. Three of the hits went for multiple bases, including a pair of triples which raised her league-leading total to 9 on the year. Lissy’s best game of the week was a 4-for-4 effort in the 17-11 win over WMU in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader. In fact, she also drew a walk in the game to reach base safely in all five of her plate appearances. She also scored all five times she reached base and picked up a pair of RBIs to account for seven of Ball State’s 17 runs in the contest. Lissy enters the final week of the regular season on a career-high 11-game hitting streak, and a career-best 15 game streak of reaching base safely. She is second on the squad with a .369 batting average, and has four doubles and an inside-the-park home run to go along with her MAC-leading nine triples.
Katie Yun, Ohio
Short Stop, Senior, North Canton, Ohio/ North Canton
Senior Katie Yun led Ohio at the plate last weekend. Over the four-game series with Buffalo, Yun hit .357 with five hits, two home runs, one grand slam, seven RBI, 11 total bases, while slugging .786 with one walk. Yin's first homerun of the weekend came in the bottom of the first inning against UB in game one. Her second homerun came in game one on Saturday, where she crushed a grand slam in the bottom of the third inning to give the Bobcats a 10-2 lead at the time.
Kaitlyn Miller, Kent State
Designated Player, Senior, Pickerington, Ohio / Pickerington Central
Kaitlyn Miller had multiple hits in five games and hit .545 as Kent State swept rival Akron in a doubleheader and then battled first-place Miami in all 4 games of a weekend series. Miller launched a home run over the scoreboard for an insurance run in a 3-1 victory against the Zips to start Wednesday's twin bill and then scored the only run in the 1-0 nightcap victroy. She hit .643 against the RedHawks, including 5-for-7 off MAC ERA leader Courtney Vierstra.
Anna Aguon, Buffalo
UTL, Senior, Vancouver, WA (Liberty)
Senior Anna Aguon had a solid week at the plate to lead Buffalo to a series split at Ohio. Aguon batted .643 with nine hits, a double, two home runs, six RBI and five runs scored while recording a 1.143 slugging percentage and .688 on base percentage in four games.
She started the series going 2-of-3 at the plate, including a solo home run in game one of Frirday's doubleheader and added another solo home run in game two. Aguon added a two-run double in game three on Saturday before going 4-of-5 at the plate, including a two-RBI single in the second, to secure the series split. On the season, the Vancouver, WA native is leading the Bulls in batting average (.392), hits (56), runs scored (38), home runs (14), RBI (35), doubles (9), and slugging percentage (.762).
