Loyola's Grim, Valparaiso's Lagesse Receive Horizon League Softball Awards

INDIANAPOLIS – Loyola senior first baseman Jacqueline Grim (Beecher, Ill.) has been named the Horizon League Player of the Week, while Valparaiso junior pitcher Alex Lagesse (Beecher, Ill.) has been tabbed the League Pitcher of the Week, for the week beginning March 21.  The accolades are the first of the season for each player.

Both Loyola and Valparaiso went 3-0 in Horizon League-opening series over the weekend, with the Ramblers sweeping Youngstown State and the Crusaders knocking off Detroit.

Grim reached base in all 10 plate appearances as Loyola (11-9) knocked off the Penguins, 4-2, 10-1, and 6-2, over the two-day series.  With a patient approach, Grim walked five times; in her other five plate appearances, the first baseman slugged at a 2.400 clip, drilling two homeruns and a double.

The senior homered in both end of a March 26 doubleheader, going a combined 3-for-3 with three runs, three RBI and three walks.  On the year, Grim leads the Ramblers with four long balls and a .364 average (12-for-33).  Dating back to last season, Loyola has won its last eight meetings with Horizon League teams.

Lagesse helped extend Valparaiso’s (18-10) school-record winning streak to 11 games, going 3-0 after allowing just one run in 15.0 innings pitched.  The junior struck out 15 while allowing just five hits and issuing three walks.

In a midweek doubleheader at IUPUI, Lagesse went six innings and allowed one run in a 10-3 victory over the Jaguars.  The right-hander saved her finest performance of the week for her second, tossing a five-inning perfect game against Detroit in an 8-0 win on March 25.

Lagesse registered eight of her 15 outs in the perfect game via strikeout.  Her 65-pitch gem was her second career no-hitter, as Lagesse also no-hit Bryant as a freshman on March 9, 2009. It also marks just the Crusaders’ third no-hitter in the last nine years, and is the first no-no at the Valparaiso University Softball Field since 2007.

In the series finale the following day, Lagesse hurled 4.0 innings and allowed a single hit in a 7-1 win to complete the sweep and collect her third win of the week.

Loyola returns to non-conference play this week, hosting Western Illinois for a doubleheader on Tuesday, March 29.  The Ramblers then face two Big Ten opponents later in the week, traveling to Wisconsin on March 31 and Northwestern on April 2.  Valparaiso heads to DeKalb, Ill., for a midweek doubleheader on Wednesday, March 30.  The Crusaders host UIC in a Horizon League series starting on April 2.