Monday, March 15, 2010

MACON, Ga. – Jacksonville’s Kayla Shavers claimed A-Sun Softball Player of the Week accolades, after strong showings at the Dolphins two home contests and during tournament play at the FAU Parents Weekend Tournament, while Lipscomb’s Whitney Kiihnl earned her third consecutive A-Sun Softball Pitcher of the Week honor after tossing another no-hitter.

Shavers paced Jacksonville in four wins in five games while hitting .529 (9-17) with eight RBIs, three runs scored, two doubles and a game-winning inside the park home run. The Largo, Fla. native raised her average from .286 to a team-best .395 (109) points with that stretch this week. Shavers finished 5-for-8 with five RBIs in two victories against Toledo on Wednesday. She opened the two-game set with the Rockets with a 2-for-4 effort, as well as a run scored and two RBIs, including the run-scoring double to end the contest in the sixth for a 12-4 victory. In game two against Toledo, the exercise science major had a season-high three hits and three RBIs, while ending the contest early again with a two-run double in the fifth.

Shavers began the weekend at the FAU Parent’s Weekend Tournament with a RBI single against Syracuse, before recording two hits and a run scored in the win against Virginia Tech. Trailing 3-2 in the bottom sixth inning against Charleston Southern, the sophomore had a two-run inside the park home run to right field to help Jacksonville erase a three-run deficit for a 4-3 victory to end the weekend on high note.

Kiihnl pitched her third no hitter of the season on Thursday in a 6-0 win against Evansville. The sophomore pitcher threw two shutouts on the week, beating Tennessee Tech, 5-0. Kiihnl owns a 13-0 mark on the season, with two wins and one save for the week. The Batesville, Miss. native followed her complete game shutout by tossing two scoreless innings in relief to close out a 2-1 win at Tennessee Tech on Tuesday.

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The Atlantic Sun Conference is an 11-member league committed to Building Winners for Life. The A-Sun stands for achievement with integrity in both the academic and athletic arenas, with a focus on the balance between the two for our student-athletes. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun boasts six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun includes a blend of the most prestigious and dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.

Other Top Performers
Morgan Childers, USC Upstate (Jr. - P - Kings Mountain, N.C. - Secondary Education) – Childers turned in another standout week in the circle with three appearances and two starts. The Kings Mountain, N.C. native picked up three of USC Upstate's four wins on the week, in addition to 15 strikeouts and just one run allowed in the 2-1 win against Western Carolina. After throwing a complete game against the Catamounts, Childers entered the second game of the doubleheader to start the fourth inning, with the Spartans clinging to a 4-3 lead. The junior pitcher allowed just one hit, while striking out eight in four innings to shut down Western Carolina and earn the win. Childers also tossed a complete game shutout with a conference best 16 strikeouts while scattering two hits on Saturday in the 2-0 victory versus Hartford.

Amanda Lindsey, Stetson (Sr. - P - Byhalia, Miss. - Biology) – Lindsey began her week by throwing her second no-hitter in her last three starts with nine strikeouts in a 2-0 win against Austin Peay on Tuesday. The senior pitcher also beat perennial Missouri Valley Conference power Southern Illinois the next day, holding them to one run, while hitting the game-tying home run herself. Lindsey held Yale to two hits and zero earned runs with seven-strikeouts in a complete game win on Saturday. At the plate, Lindsey hit two homers and slugged a team-high .909 on the week.

Trisha Massenzo, ETSU (Sr. - C - Russellville, Tenn. - Physics) – Massenzo went 8-for-16 (.500) with two doubles, two home runs, three runs scored, seven RBI and was named to the Bayer CropScience All-Tournament Team this past weekend in Fresno, Calif. The senior catcher posted a slugging percentage of 1.000 and on-base percentage of .529 after hitting safely in all five games over the weekend. Massenzo began the weekend slugging back-to-back home runs in games versus Fresno State and Cal State Northridge; while then coming through with back-to-back double games in a 5-4 win against Georgetown and a 4-3 nine-inning heartbreaking loss to Colorado State. For the weekend, the physics major had three multi-hit and three multi-RBI games.

Courtney Platt, FGCU (Jr. - RF - Greenville, Ohio. - Biology) – Platt delivered a pair of walk-off wins in FGCU's conference-opening doubleheader against Kennesaw State. The junior outfielder drilled an 8th-inning double, scoring Lauran Ziegler to give the Eagles a 4-3 win in game one, and then followed that with a walk-off two-run home run in the second game. The biology major finished the week with a .333 batting average (4-for-12), two doubles, a triple, a home run, a .917 slugging percentage, three runs scored, and four RBIs. Platt also stole a base and drew eight walks, giving her a .600 on-base percentage for the week.

Chelsey Trotto, Stetson (So. - SS - Lantana, Fla. - Integrative Health Science) – Trotto led Stetson in batting average (.538), base hits (7), RBI (4), walks (8), on-base percentage (.727) and stolen bases (3) in the Hatters’ seven games this week. The Lantana, Fla. native went 6-for-6 at the plate on Sunday to wrap up the Stetson Classic, punctuating the weekend with a career-high four RBI in the 8-1 victory versus Yale.