Green Bay's Michalkiewicz, Valpo's Weissenhofer Collect Softball Weekly Awards

INDIANAPOLIS -- Green Bay freshman outfielder Marissa Michalkiewicz (Appleton, Wis./East) has been named Horizon League Softball Player of the Week, while Valparaiso freshman Taylor Weissenhofer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport Township) has earned Horizon League Softball Pitcher of the Week honors, for the week of April 29-May 5.

Needing to win all three games against visiting Detroit in order to have a chance at qualifying for the Horizon League Tournament, Green Bay (15-25, 8-12 Horizon) swept the Titans but ultimately fell one-half game short of reaching the League championship.

The defending conference champion, Valparaiso (29-24, 11-9 Horizon) took two of three games from visiting Youngstown State to secure the No. 3 seed for the upcoming tournament.

Against Detroit, Michalkiewicz went 5-for-9 at the plate, finishing the season with a .398 batting average, matching the program record. With Green Bay trailing Detroit, 4-3, in the seventh inning in the series’ first game, Michalkiewicz drove home the game-tying run with a RBI double, finishing the game 2-for-3.

In the series’ second game, Michalkiewicz put Green Bay on the board with her sixth homer of the year and wrapped the series with a triple and run scored.

Weissenhofer started two games on the week, appearing in five and allowing just one run across 26.2 innings pitched. In her two starts, the lefty tossed shutouts against both Western Michigan and Youngstown State, striking out 10 and 11 batters, respectively.

Weissenhofer’s streak of 24.2 scoreless innings was snapped in her second appearance against Youngstown State, but rebounded to set down the final nine batters she faced as the Crusaders took a 6-5 win in 14 innings.

With 202 strikeouts, Weissenhofer set a new Valparaiso single-season record; she finished the regular season with a Horizon League-leading 22 wins and the strikeout lead.

Valparaiso will open defense of its Horizon League softball crown on Wednesday, May 8, when the third-seeded Crusaders take on No. 6 Youngstown State. The Horizon League Softball Championship will run May 8-11 and will be hosted by the regular-season champion UIC Flames.

Softball Player of the Week:
Feb. 12:    Joylyn Ichiyama, Valparaiso
Feb. 19:    Dara Toman, Cleveland State
Feb. 26:    Lauren Moore, Loyola
March 5:   Brittany Duncan, Valparaiso
March 11: Lindsey Norway, Valparaiso
March 18: Courtney Heeley, UIC
March 25: Natalie Hernandez, UIC
April 1:      Laura Swan, UIC
April 8:      Natalie Hernandez, UIC
April 15:    Erica McNew, Cleveland State
April 22:    Janelle Bouchard, Valparaiso
April 29:    Hanna Floyd, Wright State
May 6:           Marissa Michalkiewicz, Green Bay

Softball Pitcher of the Week:
Feb. 12:    Sierra Pico, Valparaiso
Feb. 19:    Susan Knight, Cleveland State
Feb. 26:    Brittany Gardner, Loyola
March 5:    Taylor Weissenhofer, Valparaiso
March 11:  Kristina Vizza, Loyola
March 18:  Sierra Pico, Valparaiso
March 25:  Devin Miller, UIC
                  Krystian DeWitt, Wright State
April 1:       Devin Miller, UIC
April 8:       Brittany Gardner, Loyola
April 15:     Casey Crozier, Youngstown State
April 22:     Devin Miller, UIC
April 29:     Krystian DeWitt, Wright State
May 6:       Taylor Weissenhofer, Valparaiso