Oakland's Cupp and Kownacki Tab Weekly Honors

INDIANAPOLIS –Oakland senior Sara Cupp (Hartland, Mich.) is the Horizon League softball Player of the Week while junior teammate Erin Kownacki (Armada, Mich.) is the Horizon League softball Pitcher of the Week for the week of March 30-April 5.

Oakland competed in two conference series this past week against Youngstown State and Valparaiso. The Golden Grizzlies took the road for a mid-week doubleheader versus the Penguins and lost the first game 2-1 but came back the second to win 11-7 to split the series. Oakland remained on the road over the weekend in a three-game series versus the Crusaders and swept Valparaiso. The Golden Grizzlies won on Friday 8-0 and captured both wins of the Saturday doubleheader 7-2 and 6-3.

Cupp led Oakland at the plate with an impressive .660 batting average over the week with a slugging percentage of 1.067 and on-base percentage of .700. The senior went 5-for-6 with three RBI, two doubles and a run scored against the Penguins. In the Valparaiso sweep, Cupp notched four more hits, a two-run home run, five RBI, two doubles and four runs scored.

Kownacki posted a 2-1 record in the circle for the Golden Grizzlies while pitching 19.2 innings in three appearances. Her only loss came against Youngstown State where the junior allowed one earned run in 6.2 innings of work. Kownacki bounced back against Valparaiso pitching a complete game shutout allowing just three hits while fanning five batters in the team’s 8-0 victory on Friday. On Saturday, she tossed her second-consecutive complete game allowing five hits, struck out seven batters in the 7-2 win. For the week, she posted an earned-run average of 1.07 while collecting 16 strikeouts, and held batters to a .250 batting-against average.

Oakland takes the road to face in-state rival Detroit for a single game on Friday and doubleheader on Saturday.

Top Players of the Week:
Katelyn Huemmer, Green Bay (So.): Went 5-for-11 in the three game series against Cleveland State with a home run and seven RBIs. Hit for an average of .400, posted a slugging percentage of 1.000 and on-base percentage of .438.
Kayla Kostich, Detroit (Sr.): Hit .421 while going 8-for-19 last week with two home runs, five RBI and two stolen bases. 
Tiana Mack-Miller, UIC (Fr.): Combined for a .700 average in the Detroit series while leading UIC with seven hits, three doubles and seven RBI. Also batted .500 against Loyola and tallied just one of two RBI in the game for the Flames.
Becka Peterson, Wright State (So.): Went 2-for-3 with a double against Dayton. Went 2-for-2 with a double, three RBI in the first game against Youngstown State, 1-for-3 with a two-run home run in the second and 1-for-3 with a RBI in the series finale.
Cynthia Woodard, Cleveland State (Sr.): Hit .556 with four runs, three doubles, two home runs and five RBI in five games for the Vikings. She posted a 1.056 slugging percentage in 18 at-bats.

Top Pitchers of the Week:
Bridget Boyle, UIC (Jr.): Struck out a career-high seven batters against Detroit while holding batters to five hits in her complete game. Pitched the final two innings of game three versus the Titans and allowed just one hit, struck out two, and no runs for her second save of the season.
Susan Knight, Cleveland State (Jr.): Posted a 1-1 record over the week in three appearances while tallying a earned-run average of 3.71 for the Vikings.
Montana Wear, Wright State (Jr.): Went 3-2 over the week with a 1.31 earned run average over 32.0 innings pitched for the Raiders. Allowed six earned runs and struck out 11 batters over the five games.

Players of the Week
Feb. 2: Nena Doran, Cleveland State
Feb. 9: Nena Doran, Cleveland State
Feb. 16: Jorgi Calombaris, Valparaiso
Feb. 23: Sarah Hartley, Oakland
March 1: Nena Doran, Cleveland State
March 9: Eleni Polites, UIC
March 16: Angie Clark, Wright State
March 23: Becka Peterson, Wright State
March 30: Sara Cupp, Oakland

Pitchers of the Week
Feb. 2: Karissa Frazier, UIC
Feb. 9: Alex Radjen, Cleveland State
Feb. 16: Karissa Frazier, UIC
Feb. 23: Susan Knight, Cleveland State
March 9: Bridget Boyle, UIC
March 16: Erin Kownacki, Oakland
March 23: Susan Knight, Cleveland State
March 30: Erin Kownacki, Oakland