UIC's Preish, Loyola's Gardner Earn Horizon League Weekly Softball Honors

INDIANAPOLIS -- UIC junior center fielder Melissa Preish (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) has been named the Horizon League Softball Player of the Week, while Loyola sophomore Brittany Gardner (Orland Park, Ill.) has earned Horizon League Softball Pitcher of the Week honors, for the week of April 23-29.

Preish helped UIC (24-24, 11-8 Horizon) sweep its series against Green Bay before splitting a road trip to Youngstown State. At 11-8 in the Horizon League, the Flames sit in third in the conference entering the last weekend of League play. Loyola (22-21, 13-8 Horizon) went 4-1 last week, collecting wins over Northwestern and Purdue ahead of a series win at Valparaiso.

Playing in four of UIC’s five games, Preish hit .538, clubbing two home runs among her seven hits on the week. Preish’s first homer of the week came in the bottom of the seventh inning against Green Bay, tying the game at 4. UIC would go on to win 5-4 in 10 innings to fuel the sweep. The center fielder closed the week by going 4-for-4 during UIC’s 11-8 victory over Youngstown State. Clubbing her second homer of the week, Preish scored four runs in the win.

Starting four games for Loyola, Gardner went 3-1 last week, compiling a 1.30 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 27 innings of work. The lefthander opened the week by hurling a two-hit shutout in the Ramblers’ 1-0 win against Northwestern. One day later, she struck out six in a 3-1 victory at Purdue.

In two starts last week at League-leading Valparaiso, Gardner split results, allowing just four hits and striking out 17. Gardner’s three wins pushed her total to 16 on the year. Gardner has now won League Pitcher of the Week accolades three times this season.

UIC will wrap up its regular season with a home series against Wright State, beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday, May 5. The twinbill will start at 2 p.m. ET, with a single game closing the series on Sunday, May 6, at 1 p.m. ET. Loyola closes its regular season needing to sweep visiting Detroit and have Valparaiso drop all three games at Cleveland State in order to share the Horizon League regular season title. The Ramblers and Titans will start their series on May 5 at 2 p.m. ET in a doubleheader; a 1 p.m. ET first pitch is scheduled on Sunday to close the three-game set.

Softball Player of the Week:
February 14: Brittany Duncan, Valparaiso
February 21: Vicky Rumph, Youngstown State
February 28: Jordan Rutkowski, Valparaiso
March 6: Jordan Rutkowski, Valparaiso
March 13: Jesse Marinec, Valparaiso
March 20: Haley Thomas, Youngstown State
March 26: Haley Thomas, Youngstown State
April 2: Jordan Rutkowski, Valparaiso; Dara Toman, Cleveland State
April 9: Kristen Boros, Butler
April 16: Dara Toman, Cleveland State
April 23: Samantha Snodgrass, Youngstown State
April 30: Melissa Preish, UIC

Softball Pitcher of the Week:
February 14: Alex Lagesse, Valparaiso
February 21: Casey Crozier, Youngstown State
February 28: Krystian DeWitt, Wright State
March 6: Breanna Fisher, Butler
March 13: Keali Engelkens, Loyola
March 20: Casey Crozier, Youngstown State
March 26: Brittany Gardner, Loyola
April 2: Jenny Esparza, Butler
April 9: Brittany Gardner, Loyola
April 16: Sam McGee, Valparaiso
April 23: Leah Bry, Butler
April 30: Brittany Gardner, Loyola