Valparaiso's Calombaris and UIC's Frazier Earn Weekly Accolades

INDIANAPOLIS –Valparaiso sophomore Jorgi Calombaris (Frankfort, Ill.) is the Horizon League softball Player of the Week, while the UIC’s freshman Karissa Frazier (Temecula, Calif.) is the Horizon League softball Pitcher of the Week for the week of Feb. 16-22. This is the second weekly honor Frazier has collected so far this season.

The Valparaiso softball team competed in the Samford Invitational this past weekend and competed against teams from Houston Baptist, Samford and Alabama State. On Friday, the Crusaders fell to Houston Baptist 13-8 and Samford 6-5. The team grabbed its third win of the season on Saturday versus Alabama State 8-2 but closed out the tournament with a loss to Samford, 12-1.

Calombaris led the Crusaders at the plate averaging .643 while posting an on-base percentage of .643 and slugging percentage of 1.000. She posted three multi-hit games, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI in the opener against Houston Baptist, went a perfect 4-for-4 versus Samford with three runs scored, two RBIs and a home run, and posted a 2-for-3 performance with two runs scored and a RBI against Alabama State. Overall, Calombaris tabbed nine hits on 14 attempts and added a stolen base to her efforts.

UIC traveled to California and competed in the SCU Bronco Classic. The team kicked-off the tournament with a 7-0 loss to San Jose State on Friday and went eight innings with them the following day in a close 4-3 loss. The Flames tabbed its sole win of the weekend in a 2-1 contest over Santa Clara before falling to Idaho State in Sunday, 5-3.

Frazier collected a win and a loss in two starts for the Flames against San Jose State and Santa Clara. Versus San Jose State, the freshman pitched four innings and struck out three batters. In her second start of the Classic, Frazier pitched a complete game to grab her third win of the season in which she allowed just one hit and fanned five batters with no earned runs facing the Broncos. Over the two contests, she recorded an earned-run average of 1.91 over 11.0 innings pitched, struck-out eight batters and held opposing hitters to a .214 batting-against average.

UIC returns to the diamond on February 27 where the team competes in the USF-Under Armour Invitational in Clearwater, Fla. versus five other squads. The Crusaders take the field at the Woo Pig Classic beginning February 27 for a five-game slate over three days.

Top Players of the Week:
Paige Peterson, UIC (Sr.): Hit for an average of .462 while posting a .846 slugging percentage and .500 on-base percentage at the Samford Invitational. The senior recorded at least one hit in each game while collecting a game-winning RBI against Santa Clara.

Top Pitchers of the Week:
Mollie Lindeman, Valparaiso (Jr.): Tabbed a win against Alabama State, pitching five innings while not allowing an earned run.

Players of the Week
Feb. 2: Nena Doran, Cleveland State
Feb. 9: Nena Doran, Cleveland State
Feb. 16: Jorgi Calombaris, Valparaiso

Pitchers of the Week
Feb. 2: Karissa Frazier, UIC
Feb. 9: Alex Radjen, Cleveland State
Feb. 16: Karissa Frazier, UIC