LAdy Cajun hurler named month’s top pitcher; Tankersley honored.
LOUISIANA La. — For the second time this season, and in the last three weeks, No. 10 Louisiana swept the weekly softball honors handed out by the Sun Belt Conference.
And, for the second time both junior pitcher Brooke Mitchell and freshman utility player Holly Tankersley were the recipients of the Pitcher of the Week and Hitter of the Week respectively.
The awards were the fifth and sixth handed out by the SBC this season. Louisiana has picked up five of the six awards.
For Mitchell it marks the third straight week that she was named the Sun Belt's top pitcher while Tankersley collected her second award.
The Cajuns have now won 28 weekly honors in three-plus seasons under former Ragin' Cajuns pitching All-American and current head coach Stefni Lotief.
Mitchell (14-1, 0.35 ERA, 195K) had another dominating week in the pitching circle as she continues to develop as one of the best pitchers in the country.
The junior hurler from Pasadena, Texas, tossed 29 innings last week allowing just two hits and striking out 61 batters as she collected four more victories to improve her season record to 14-1. She ended the week with a 0.24 ERA and opposing teams hit a paltry .023 against her.
For the second straight week she crafted two no-hitters as she stifled the bats of Nevada at the McNeese State Cowgirl Classic. She has tossed five no-hitters this season with four of them coming in the last two weeks.
On Friday, she struck out 16 batters over seven innings for the first no-hitter of Nevada. Then on Saturday, she struck out a school-record 22 batters (17 in seven innings) as she pitched a nine-inning no-hitter of the Wolfpack.
She finished the week with three double-digit strikeout performances in all three complete games that she threw.
For the season Mitchell has 195 strikeouts in 100 1/3 innings of action and is averaging at least 12 strikeouts per game. With her second strikeout in the McNeese State game, she moved into second place all-time in the school's career record book with her 613th strikeout. She now has 638 strikeouts in 84 career appearances.
Tankersley (.411 avg., 5 2B, 8 HR, .929 SLG%), a true freshman from Kirbyville, Texas, led the Cajuns in batting average with a .500 clip (10-for-20) hitting three home runs and driving in eight runs. She picked up 20 totals bases and ended the week with a 1.000 slugging percentage.
Friday at the McNeese State Cowgirl Classic, she hit three home runs in the Cajuns sweep of Nevada and McNeese State. Against McNeese State she hit two homers and brought home five runs.
Tankersley was 4-for-4 in the Cajuns Saturday win over Texas Southern as she increased her season batting average over the .400 mark. She had a hit in every game that she batted in at the McNeese Classic and currently has a five-game hitting streak which is the longest for any Cajuns batter this season.
The LAdy Cajuns (20-2) return to action this weekend as they travel to Tallahassee, Fla., for the Florida State Seminole Challenge. There UL will face Connecticut and Penn State on Friday, Florida State at Rhode Island on Saturday and wrap up tournament play Sunday against St. John's.
20004 LOUISIANA SOFTBALL WEEKLY HONORS
Hitter of the Week
Feb. 17 - Holly Tankersley
March 2 - Holly Tankersley
Pitcher of the Week
Feb. 17 - Brooke Mitchell
Feb. 24 - Brooke Mitchell
March 2 - Brooke Mitchell
LOUISIANA SI