Hartford's Samantha Morrison (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville Area) has been named America East Player of the Week, while Albany's Casey Halloran (East Greenbush, N.Y./Columbia) earns her third Pitcher of the Week award of the season. UMBC's Courtney O’Hara (Pasadena, Md./Institute of Notre Dame) grabs her fourth Rookie of the Week accolade of the 2006 campaign. The awards were announced on Monday (April 24).
The senior outfielder led the Hawks to a 3-3 record on the week as she drove in a team-high 11 RBIs and batted .273 from the leadoff spot. She recorded three triples on the week, tying the school’s single-season (6) and career records (8). She also stole a pair of bases and stands one away from tying the school’s career record.
Halloran went 1-0 in her only start of the week for UAlbany, a 6-0 win over Army. She hurled her second no-hitter of the season in that start, allowing just two batters to reach base as she fanned 11, the fourth straight start in which she has recorded double-digit strikeouts. It was also her sixth complete-game shutout this season, which is one more than her career total entering the season. With the win, Halloran tied UAlbany’s career mark of 46 wins. She also has a personal-best 19 wins this year, one victory off UAlbany’s single-season record. In her only other appearance this week, the junior earned her first save of the season, hurling three innings of relief in a 10-5 win over Manhattan. She struck out three and allowed only one unearned run in that game. Halloran is holding opponents to just a .160 batting average this season, the best in the America East.
O’Hara hit .444 (8-for-18) with a double and two home runs in five games last week. She scored five runs and drove in seven, leading the team in RBI on the week. Both of her home runs came in the doubleheader against Coppin State on April 18, as she went 3-for-7 with four runs scored and five RBI in the two games. She went 2-for-4 in the first game against Vermont on April 22, then followed it up with a 3-for-4 performance in the nightcap. She drove in two and scored once in the second game. O’Hara leads the Retrievers with a .477 batting average on the season, and her 11 doubles rank third while her 41 runs scored tie for fourth on the team.