April 6, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Junior Nicole Pauly (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) has been named the Big Ten Player of the Week following a tremendous performance in two doubleheader sweeps for Northwestern last week.
Pauly batted .875 in four games during the week, compiling a .917 on-base percentage with a 2.125 slugging percentage. Only once in four games did she fail to reach base, going 7-for-8 with three home runs, a double, three walks and a hit by pitch. She drove in six runs and scored seven times in the four conference contests.
Pauly began the week with a record-breaking game, setting career highs for hits, runs and total bases when she hit two home runs and a double, scored three times and drove in three in the first game of a doubleheader versus Michigan State. In the nightcap she drove in two and scored twice while walking twice.
On Saturday versus Indiana, Pauly hit a home run onto the roof of McGaw Hall in the first game, marking only the second time in Sharon J. Drysdale Field history someone has hit a ball onto the roof. She finished 2-for-2 in the first game before going 1-for-1 in the second.
Pauly's Big Ten award is the fourth of her career; she was honored once as a freshman and twice as a sophomore. She is the fifth different Wildcat to be selected for a weekly accolade by the conference office this year.