GNAC Softball Report: Week 5

( FOR THE WEEK OF MARCH 27 - APRIL 2 )

	PLAYER OF THE WEEK Alyssa Roberts, St. Joseph (Conn.) (So., P/1B - Naugatuck, Conn.) - Paced USJ to a 2-1 week, including a sweep during its GNAC opener against Norwich on Sunday. Slashed a sensational .778/.800/1.000 and led the team with seven hits, two runs scored, two doubles and nine RBI. Started the week with a 1-for-2 outing at the plate against Division-I Hartford. She followed up her performance with a monstrous day at the plate in a doubleheader against Norwich. In game one, she went 3-for-4 at the plate, tallying five RBI to lead the Blue Jays to a 12-0 shutout victory in five innings. Followed up her success in game one with a perfect 3-for-3 outing in game two, tallying four RBI to complete the sweep for USJ, as the Blue Jays defeated the Cadets, 12-3, in five innings.
	PITCHER OF THE WEEK Meredith Pence, Saint Joseph's (Maine) (Sr, P - Remington, Va.) - Pence posted a 3-0 record with a misicule 0.32 ERA in 22.0 innings last week, allowing just 12 hits while striking out 20 and walking 10 in three starts. She held opposing hitters to a paltry .160 (12-75) batting average and did not yield an earned run while fanning 15 in 15 innings versus Anna Maria and Regis on March 31 and April 2, respectively. In a 2-1 win at UNE on March 29, she allowed just one earned on three hits with five K's in a complete-game victory.
	ROOKIE OF THE WEEK Christyna Winstead, Emmanuel (Mass.) (Fr, 3B/SS - Uncasville, Conn.) - Winstead powered Emmanuel to a GNAC sweep over Rivier on Sunday, blasting a pair of home runs in the Game 1 victory while posting a .375 average over the doubelheader. The third baseman tallied three RBI, scored three runs, collected three hits while slugging 1.125 over the two conference wins and was also a part of a huge doubleplay in extra innings of Game 2 to get the Saints back up to bat without surrendering a run during the international tie-breaker in their 8-7 win.

HONOR ROLL
Peyton Davis, Albertus Magnus (Sr., OF - North Haven, Conn.) - Davis batted .417 (5-of-12) with one double, two runs scored, and four RBI in a 2-2 week for the Falcons. The North Haven, Conn. native recorded a hit in all four games, including a two-hit performance in the Falcons' 16-0 home win over Dean. She also tallied a solo RBI in the 9-1 setback to Manhattanville and two RBI in the game one victory over the Bulldogs. 

Ema Signore, Albertus Magnus (So., P - Guilford, Conn.) - Signore was spotless with a 0.00 ERA last week, as she allowed just two hits and zero earned runs while striking out one batter over 6.1 innings of work.

Saylor Costa, Anna Maria (Jr., C) - Costa was 11-for-21 (.524) with five runs, four doubles and four RBI in a six-game week.

Courtney Schwark, Elms (Sophomore, OF - Port Ewen, NY) - Five stolen bases, including four in the double header against Bay Path.

Taylor Chelak, Emmanuel (Mass.) (So, OF - Westborough, Mass.) - Chelak posted an .833 batting averaging on Sunday in Emmanuel's GNAC doubleheader sweep vs. Rivier going 5-for-6 while scoring four runs, driving in a pair, drawing two walks and adding one stolen base to the stat line for the twinbill. Her biggest hit of the day came in the form of a walk-off RBI single off the middle in the 8th inning of Game 2 to lift the Saints to the 8-7 come-from-behind win.

Emma Crisafulli, Emmanuel (Mass.) (Jr, DP/1B - Loudonville, N.Y.) - Crisafulli hit .600 over the Saints doubleheader sweep vs. Rivier, going 3-for-5 over the two games including a two-out game-tying grand slam in the bottom of the seventh inning to force extra innings in the Saints 8-7 victory on Sunday afternoon of Game 2. The junior slugged 1.200 over the twinbill sweep and posted a .714 OBP, scoring a run and drawing a walk in the two GNAC wins.

Sage Borkowski, Johnson & Wales (RI) (Jr., P - Oxford, Conn.) - Borkowski went 2-0 with a 0.70 earned run average and six strikeouts. Borkowski - who allowed one ER on four hits in four innings of work in a win over RIC on Wednesday - closed the week with six innings of two-hit shutout ball in a win at Elms. Borkowski owns a 5-2 record thus far in 2023.

Hailey Erickson, Johnson & Wales (RI) (Jr., IF - Calimesa, Calif.) - Erickson batted .533 (8-of-15) and drive in five runs for the Wildcats, who went 4-0 last week. She hit safely in all four JWU contests, highlighted by a 4-for-4, four-RBI effort against Elms on Sunday. Erickson's 18 RBI are tied for the team lead.

Bianca Burke, Regis (Mass.) (So., OF/IF - Cambridge, Mass.) - Burke led the Pride offensively over the past week with nine hits, including three doubles and one triple. In the team's 10-9 victory over Mass Maritime last Monday, Burke twice drove in the game-tying run. She went 3-for-4 in the first game of Wednesday's doubleheader at Lasell with a double and a triple. For the season, Burke leads the Pride with a .435 batting average (fourth in GNAC), 20 hits, six doubles, and seven stolen bases (second in GNAC). 

Christina Panagiotopoulos, Rivier (Fr., OF - Lowell, Mass.) - She finished the week batting .467, with her best games coming late in the week against a tough opponent Emmanuel College. She finished the first game she hit a .750 going 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs. The second game that went into extras Panagiotopoulos was 2-for-4. Overall, the freshman finished the week with a .733 slugging and .529 on base percentage. She batted in six Raiders. 

Olivia Howe, Saint Joseph's (Me.) (Senior, 1B - Arundel, Maine) - Howe hit .444 (8-18) with four runs, two doubles, a triple, three RBI, and three walks (and no strikeouts) in a 5-1 week for the Monks. The senior first baseman had three multiple-hit games and posted a .524 OBP for the week.

Raya Anderson, Simmons (Sophomore, OF - Rollinsford, N.H.) - Hitting .500 (5-10) with a staggering 1.267 OPS (.667 OBP, .600 SLG%) from the top spot of the Sharks lineup, Anderson guided Simmons to a 3-1 week, which included a sweep of Lasell to open conference play. Late in the week, Anderson was instrumental in the Sharks sweep of the Lasers going 2-for-2 at the dish, to increase her hitting streak to five games, while working five walks and scoring four runs in the two games.