INDIANAPOLIS – Indianapolis junior utility Taylor Russell and Truman State sophomore pitcher Kindra Henze have been selected the Great Lakes Valley Conference Softball Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, it was announced by the league on Tuesday.
Russell batted .476 (10 for-21) with 14 RBIs, three doubles, two stolen bases, and one home run in six contests of which three of her 10 hits went for extra bases in leading the team with a .762 slugging percentage. The St. Charles, Ill., native started the week with five RBIs, and two-stolen bases versus in-state foe Saint Joseph's in the team sweep. Four days later, she drove in three of the Greyhounds four runs in the first game against Bellarmine. Her clutch two-out double plated the tying and game-winning tallies to defeat the Knights, 4-3. In game two, she tacked on a two-run double against Bellarmine. On Sunday, Russell provided more heroics with her second walk-off hit in as many days against Southern Indiana. For the season, Russell leads the GLVC in RBIs (48), while ranking second in home runs (13), sixth in runs scored (35) and eighth in slugging (.645). She will carry an eight-game hit streak into the GLVC Tournament
Henze went 3-0 with a 0.65 ERA after tossing three
complete-games against Quincy, No. 4 Missouri-St. Louis, and Maryville, respectively. In four appearances, she fanned 14 strikeouts in 21.2 innings pitched. After opening the week with a 5-2 complete game against Quincy, Henze was stellar against UMSL, as she tossed a three-hit complete game shutout (5-0) while striking out five. She allowed just four base runners in becoming just the fourth starting pitcher all season to blank the Tritons. The following day, Henze was nearly perfect against Maryville in her final regular season
start, as the Saints came up with only an infield single in the top of the sixth to break up her perfect game bid. For the game, she struck out six, allowed only the one base runner, and used just 74 pitches in Truman's 1-0 victory. During her three weekend appearances, she threw 14.2 shutout innings with a 0.34 walks plus hits per inning pitched and 11 strikeouts. The Palmyra, Mo., native went 21-4 during the regular, and tossed a program single-season record 13 complete game shutouts. She struck out more than a batter an inning and held opponents to a .183 batting average.
The honor is
a career first for Russell and fourth
career nod for Henze, as she won the award on February 24, March 10, and March 18 of this season.
As the No. 1 seed, Indianapolis (39-9, 28-4 GLVC) will face No. 8 Rockhurst (21-27, 16-18) in the GLVC Softball Championship tournament at EastSide Centre in East Peoria, Ill., Friday, at 10 a.m. CT on Field A, while No. 3 Truman State (40-9, 30-6) meet No. 6 Lewis (23-22, 17-15) Friday at 12 Noon CT on Field B.