University of Missouri-St. Louis senior Karey Kruse (St. Paul, Mo./St. Dominic) has been named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Softball  Player of the Week.

Kruse paced the Tritons to a 7-1 week and to the school’s second GLVC regular season title in the past three seasons. In the eight contests, Kruse hit .519 with three doubles, two home runs, 11 RBIs and seven runs scored.

After an 0-for-5 day in a doubleheader with Quincy on Wednesday, Kruse guided the Tritons to a sweep at Missouri S&T on Thursday by going 3-for-7 in the two games with two runs, two RBIs and a double.

She returned on Saturday to key a pair of come-from-behind wins for the Tritons over Drury. She had a double in the bottom of the seventh to help UMSL score four runs in the inning and post an 8-7 victory. Kruse finished the day by providing a walk-off grand slam in lifting the Tritons to 7-5 win in the second game. For the day, she was 5-for-8 with five RBIs and three runs.

Kruse capped the week by going 6-for-7 in the Tritons sweep of Rockhurst on Sunday. She recorded four RBIs, a home run, and a pair of runs scored in the victories.

This season, Kruse is hitting .404 with 36 runs, 38 RBIs, 13 doubles and nine home runs.

UMSL (29-18) secured the top seed for the GLVC Tournament with a 20-5 league record. The Tritons will face Rockhurst in the first round of the tournament on Friday.

Other top performers in the GLVC last week included Drury’s Andi Anti, Indianapolis’ Cori Eckerle, Maryville’s  Jennifer Maynez, Northern Kentucky’s Jessica Farris and Rockhurst’s Leslie Furdek.