Valpo's Duncan, Loyola's Ciran Tally Horizon League Weekly Softball Honors

INDIANAPOLIS -- Valparaiso freshman designated player Brittany Duncan (Fairborn, Ohio) has been named the Horizon League Softball Player of the Week, while Loyola freshman Amanda Ciran (St. Charles, Ill.) has earned Horizon League Softball Pitcher of the Week honors, for the week of April 30-May 6.

Duncan helped Valparaiso (37-16, 19-5 Horizon) go 5-0 on the week, as the Crusaders took a doubleheader from Western Michigan before sweeping their Horizon League regular-season ending series against Cleveland State. Valpo’s 37 wins set a new program record.

The freshman reached base in 14 of her 19 plate appearances during the week, blasting a game-winning two-run homer to lift the Crusaders past Western Michigan, 2-0, in the doubleheader opener. In Valparaiso’s sweep of Cleveland State, Duncan went 6-for-11 with seven RBI.

Duncan finished the week hitting .643, clubbing two home runs and driving in nine. In Horizon League play, Duncan is leading the conference with a .471 batting average and 31 RBI.

Ciran allowed one earned run across 13.0 innings of work as she collected the win in both of Loyola’s victories over Detroit on the week. Pitching both games of the doubleheader, Ciran struck out 10 Titans. The righthander scatted three hits and struck out five in each end of the twinbill. Over her last four appearances, Ciran is 3-0 with a 0.33 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 21.0 innings of work.

Valparaiso claimed the program’s first Horizon League regular season title and will host the League Championships, which run May 9-12. The Crusaders will take on either No. 4 Youngstown State or No. 5 Butler at 12 p.m. EST on Thursday, May 10. The No. 2 seed in the tournament Loyola will meet No. 3 UIC or No. 6 Green Bay at 2:30 p.m. EST on Thursday, May 10. The Horizon League Network will have live coverage of the championship on Saturday, May 12, beginning at 1 p.m. EST.

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
May 7: Brittany Duncan, Valparaiso

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
May 7: Amanda Ciran, Loyola