May 3, 2006
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Junior Eileen Canney (Paradise, Calif./Paradise) has been named Louisville Slugger/NFCA Co-National Player of the Week after posting a 3-0 record and helping Northwestern to within one win of the Big Ten title last weekend.
Canney began the week with a one-hit shutout of Michigan State on Friday, striking out nine in a 5-0 Northwestern win. She then entered the second game of the series Saturday to pitch 4.1 innings of two-hit, shutout relief in a 9-4, come-from-behind win against the Spartans.
Sunday at No. 12 Michigan, Canney won a head-to-head matchup of Big Ten Pitcher of the Year candidates, striking out nine and allowing just an unearned run in a 2-1 win against Jennie Ritter the Wolverines. That win lowered the Wildcats' magic number to clinch the conference crown to one.
Canney is honored one week after tying the NCAA Division I single-game strikeout record of 28 in an 18-inning, 4-3 win at Minnesota on April 23. She currently has a 1.04 ERA and 286 strikeouts on the season, putting her on pace to become just the second Wildcat to ever reach 300 K's in a single-season. The only other time that has happened in NU history was All-American Lisa Ishikawa's then-NCAA record 469 strikeouts in 1984.
Canney's national honor is the first of her career and the second for Northwestern this season. Junior Garland Cooper (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) earned ESPN.com/USA Softball National Player of the Week accolades on April 3.
Canney shares this week's honor with UCLA's Andrea Duran.