Boston University's Liz Alley (Aurora, Colo./Eaglecrest) shares America East Player of the Week honors with Melanie Denischuk (Poway, Calif./Hugh Sutherland (Alberta)/Indian River CC/Auburn) of UMBC. Sarah Bennis (Pownal, Maine/Greely) of Maine garners her second Pitcher of the Week award of the season, while UMBC's Michelle Olivieri (Brockport, N.Y./The Aquinas Institute) takes home the first Rookie of the Week honor of her career. The accolades were announced on Monday (April 10).
Alley had a huge week, as she hit .462 with three home runs and had a slugging percentage of 1.385. She went 1-for-3 and had one of Boston U.’s four hits in a 3-1 win over Harvard on Thursday. She then went 2-for-3 with a double and 2 RBI in a 7-6 win over Hartford on Saturday and followed that up with a 3-for-7 performance with three home runs and seven RBI in a doubleheader split against the Hawks. She hit two home runs in game one, driving in four, and clubbed a three-run shot in the 11-1 game-two romp.
Denischuk earns her fourth Player of the Week of the season and her third-straight as she batted .636 (7-for-11) with two doubles, four home runs, four runs scored and 12 RBI this week, leading the Retrievers with 21 total bases and a 1.909 slugging percentage in the four games. She also walked twice for a .692 on-base percentage. In UMBC’s 15-1 win in the first game of a doubleheader against Georgetown on April 4, Denischuk went 3-for-3 with two home runs, a double and six RBI. She went 1-for-2 with a solo homer in the nightcap, giving her three home runs and seven RBI on the day. She went 2-for-3 with a clutch 2-RBI double in the Retrievers’ come-from-behind 6-5 victory in the first game of the doubleheader against defending America East champion Albany. In the second game, she went 1-for-3, her one hit a three-run home run in the third inning that gave UMBC a 3-1 lead.
Bennis won both of her starts this past weekend as Maine swept Vermont, allowing just two runs during the weekend to post a 1.00 ERA. She allowed just six hits, striking out 23 and walking just three. In the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, Bennis went the distance and allowed just one hit with 10 strikeouts. She took a no-hitter into the fifth, but with one out, Vermont was finally able to put a hit up on the board. On Sunday, Bennis again went the distance and gave up just two runs on five hits with 13 strikeouts.
Olivieri batted .667 (6-for-9) with three home runs and six RBI in four games this week, ranking second on the team with 15 total bases and a 1.667 slugging percentage. She also walked twice for a .727 on-base percentage. She went 1-for-2 with three runs scored in the first game of the Georgetown doubleheader, then hit two home runs in the same inning in the nightcap. She was 3-for-3 with four RBI in that game. Her third homer of the week came in the second game of the doubleheader against Albany, a two-run shot in the fourth inning that gave the Retrievers a 5-2 lead. She went 2-for-4 in the game.