SFU Softball Players Reel In Tournament and Conference Awards
LORETTO, Pa. (Mar. 25, 2008) – Junior Kara Stroup (Valencia, Pa. / Mars) headlines the list of awards that Saint Francis softball players pulled in over the past two days by being named the Northeast Conference Player-of-the-Week for her efforts in helping to lead the Red Flash to the UMBC Spring Classic championship this past weekend in Baltimore.
Joining Stroup in earning awards this week were junior pitcher Laura Caldwell (Bellefonte, Pa. / Bellefonte) and senior centerfielder Nicole Bender (Patton, Pa. / Cambria Heights), who were both named to the UMBC Spring Classic All-Tournament Team.
Stroup, who was also named to the all-tournament team at UMBC, picked up her second career weekly honor from the NEC, and first career Player-of-the-Week accolade. Stroup was named the NEC’s Rookie-of-the-Week on April 3, 2006. She also became the first Red Flash softball player to pick up NEC Player-of-the-Week honors in just over two years. Jordanna Riggi won the honor on Mar. 20, 2006.
Stroup played a pivotal role in SFU’s 3-2 week. She hit .467 with two doubles, two home runs, six RBIs, three runs scored and a 1.000 slugging percentage while being named Co-MVP of the UMBC Spring Classic. She hit safely in the first four games of the tournament, and finished with a .556 on-base percentage. Stroup collected 15 total bases in 15 official at-bats and has now reached base safely in 12 of her last 13 games. She went 5-for-8 with three RBIs through the first three games of the tournament before going 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs in a 7-4 semifinal win over Niagara. Stroup also walked and scored a run in the Red Flash’s 6-0 win in the championship game against UMBC.
Caldwell went 2-1 on the week with a 1.26 ERA in 16.2 innings of work. She added 15 strikeouts and gave up just 11 hits for a .175 batting average against. She tossed a complete game shutout in Saturday’s 6-0 victory over UMBC in the title game to earn her fourth career shutout. Caldwell also tossed her 300th career strikeout during the weekend and now sits second on SFU’s all-time strikeout list. Caldwell is second in the NEC with 57 strikeouts on the season.
Bender hit .389 with six runs scored, two RBIs, one walk and a 5-for-5 effort on stolen base attempts. She made several outstanding defensive plays while roaming the centerfield position. Bender currently leads the Northeast Conference with 30 hits and 18 runs scored, while she is second with 44 total bases and sixth with a .375 batting average.
Saint Francis is currently 8-16 on the season, but is 5-4 over its last nine games. The Red Flash return to action at 6 p.m. on Wednesday night when they travel up Interstate 99 to Penn State, where they will take on the Nittany Lions in a doubleheader. SFU will begin conference play with a twinbill at in-state rival Robert Morris, beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday.