Valparaiso's Wisniewski, UIC's Boyle Collect Horizon League Softball Weekly Honors

INDIANAPOLIS –Valparaiso senior Amanda Wisniewski (Skokie, Ill.) is the Horizon League softball Player of the Week, while UIC sophomore Bridget Boyle (St. John, Ind.) is the Horizon League softball Pitcher of the Week for the week of Feb. 10-16.

The Valparaiso softball team traveled south to Lafayette, La. to compete in the Ragin’ Cajun Invitational. The Crusaders kicked off the tournament with losses against Central Arkansas 4-3 and No. 13 Louisiana 3-2. The team continued to have close games on Saturday losing 10-8 to Central Arkansas and 4-0 versus Boston College. On Sunday, Valparaiso fell to Memphis 7-3 to finish out the weekend.

Wisniewski led the Crusaders at the plate during the Invitational, earning her All-Tournament Team accolades. The senior had a batting average of .538 over the five games with a 1.00 slugging percentage and .625 on-base percentage. Her best performance came in the second matchup against Central Arkansas where she went 3-for-3 with three runs, three RBIs, and two home runs. Of the five games, she tallied hits in four of the contests.

UIC’s softball team competed in Orlando, Fla. at the UCF/Holiday Inn Classic. Opening weekend play on Friday, the Flames were defeated by Florida A&M 6-2 and tournament host UCF 5-1. The following day, UIC fell to James Madison 11-1 and lost a close game to Middle Tennessee 3-2. On the final day of the Classic, the Flames played a tighter game against James Madison but lost 5-3.

Boyle led the Flames in the circle appearing in four of the five games. In starts against Florida A&M and Middle Tennessee, the sophomore tallied six of her eight strikeouts over the weekend. In relief, she allowed just two hits taking on UCF and allowed no hits and no runs versus James Madison. In the four games Boyle saw action; she had a 1.47 earned run average while having a .228 batting against average.

Valparaiso does not take the field this coming weekend and will be back in action starting Feb. 28. The Flames head back to Florida for the Jacksonville University Tournament with play beginning Friday, Feb. 21 against Savannah State.

Softball Player of the Week:
Feb. 3: Erika Polidori, Oakland}
Feb. 10: Amanda Wisniewski, Valparaiso

Softball Pitcher of the Week:
Feb. 3: Susan Knight, Cleveland State
Feb. 10: Bridget Boyle, UIC