Horizon League Softball Players of the Week (April 17)

INDIANAPOLIS – UIC senior Elaine Heflin was dominant in her three outings on the week striking out 36 batters to earn Pitcher of the Week. Oakland sophomore Kelsie Swanson was tabbed Player of the Week after batting .727 in the team's three-game series versus Wright State.

Elaine Heflin / UIC / Senior / Pitcher / Downers Grove, Ill.

Heflin didn’t miss a beat after throwing a no-hitter with 17 strikeouts versus Youngstown State. In fact, the senior broke her own strikeout record by striking out 18 batters and took a no-hitter into the eleventh inning versus Northern Kentucky. Though Heflin gave up a hit and earned the no-decision, the team came through in the bottom of the eleventh to win 1-0. The right-handed thrower also pitched earlier in the week in UIC’s series against Valparaiso and tossed a complete game allowing two hits with 11 strikeouts in a 6-0 win. The following day, Heflin came into the game in relief duty and pitched 3.1 innings with seven strikeouts and no runs allowed to record the win.

For the week, Heflin pitched 20.2 innings and struck out 36 batters to go 2-0 on the week. She only allowed five hits during the stretch and did not allow a run to earn her third Pitcher of the Week honor on the year.

Kelsie Swanson / Oakland / Sophomore/ Outfielder / Flint, Mich.

Swanson hit an astounding 8-11 for a .727 batting average in Oakland’s three game series versus Wright State. The sophomore had multi-hits in every game of the series and batted in a run in the team’s first two games. Of the eight hits, two were of the extra base variety helping the Golden Grizzlies take the second game of the series.

This is Swanson’s first Player of the Week honor on the season becoming the second Oakland player to win the award in as many weeks.

Previous Player of the Week recipients:

Feb. 13- Kayla Wedl, UIC
Feb. 20- Sam Stewart, Valparaiso
Feb. 27- Lexi Watts, UIC
March 6- Carly Trepanier, Valparaiso
March 13- Dani Devlin, Northern Kentucky
March 20- Lexi Watts, UIC
March 27- Libby Pfeffer, Wright State
April 3- Tatum Christy, Youngstown State
April 10- Lyndsay Hill, Oakland

Previous Pitcher of the Week recipients:

Feb. 13- Elaine Heflin, UIC
Feb. 20- Erin Kownacki, Oakland
Feb. 27- Erin Kownacki, Oakland
March 6- No player selected
March 13- Ashlyn Montgomery, Valparaiso
March 20- Mackenzie Grossmann, Valparaiso
March 27- Maddi Lusk, Youngstown State
April 3- Karissa Frazier, UIC
April 10- Elaine Heflin, UIC