INDIANAPOLIS – Southern Indiana senior third baseman Kristen O’Haver (Odon, Ind./North Daviess) and Drury junior Monica Villarreal (Oceanside, Calif./Carlsbad/Palomar CC) have been named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for their performances this past week.
O’Haver hit .524 with three home runs, five doubles, eight RBIs, and posted a slugging percentage of 1.190 to lead Southern Indiana to a 5-1 record last week, including a 2-0 mark in GLVC play. O’Haver began the week by going 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs in the Screaming Eagles’ 5-1 victory over McKendree. She came back in the nightcap to go 2-for-4 at the plate with a pair of doubles as USI rallied for a 6-5 victory in eight innings. She then opened the GLVC season by going 3-for-3 at the plate with a pair of home runs and four RBIs in USI’s 8-0, five-inning win over Rockhurst. She was 1-for-4 with a double in the nightcap as the Eagles held on for a 4-2 win over the Hawks. Despite going hitless in three plate appearances in USI’s 5-3 setback to Concordia University-St. Paul, O’Haver went 3-for-4 at the plate with two doubles and a pair of RBIs against the University of the Sciences. Her two-run, walk-off double in the bottom of the seventh inning gave the Eagles a 3-2, come-from-behind win over the Devils and lifted the Eagles to a 7-3 mark on the season, their best 10-game start since the 1999 campaign.
For the year, O’Haver is second on the team with a .394 batting average. She leads the Eagles with three home runs, five doubles, and 10 RBIs.
Drury’s Villarreal earns her second straight GLVC weekly honor after posting a 3-0 mark in 17.0 innings of work. She allowed eight hits and two walks over three games, while striking out 15 batters. In a road win at Lincoln on Wednesday, she allowed five hits in 5.0 innings in an 11-1 victory. She returned to the mound Saturday against UW-Parkside where she struck out eight batters and allowed just one hit over 5.0 innings in an 8-0 shutout. Villarreal capped off the weekend by striking out five and giving up two hits in 7.0 innings of work in a 3-0 blanking of Lewis.
On the year, Villarreal is 5-3 in eight appearances with a 1.63 ERA and 36 strikeouts.
Other top performers in the GLVC last week included Indianapolis’ Casey Williamson (OF) and Jennifer DeMotte (P), Drury’s Marissa Valdez (2B), Missouri S&T’s Becca Strope (P), Missouri-St. Louis’ Briana Butler (1B), Northern Kentucky’s Kaylin Steinmetz (CF), Quincy’s Monica Gray (LF), Rockhurst’s Liz Desloge (2B), and Southern Indiana’s Brooke Harmening (P).