EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern first-years Rachel Lewis and Kenna Wilkey picked up Big Ten weekly awards Monday after helping lead the Wildcats to a perfect 5-0 record at the Houston Hilton Plaza Classic last weekend.
Lewis has been named the Big Ten Player of the Week while Wilkey earned the Big Ten Freshman of the Week award. Lewis won the Freshman of the Week accolade on March 5, making this the second-straight week she has been honored by the Conference and also the second-straight week the #B1GCats have won the B1G newcomer award.
Lewis was dominant for the second-straight week, slugging 1.188 and driving in 2.2 runs per game at the Hilton Plaza Classic. After reaching base via a walk in the opener against Iowa State, she crushed a three-run home run in a win against Penn State. She then doubled home two runs in a rematch Saturday with the Nittany Lions.
Saturday night Lewis finished 2-for-4 with a double and a home run in a win against Houston. In that game, NU and Houston were tied going into the seventh inning when Lewis un-broke the tie with a timely solo home run. On Sunday, Lewis had a career-best game, finishing a triple shy of the cycle in an 11-3 win. She drove in a career-best five and scored twice.
For the season, Lewis leads the entire Big Ten with 27 RBIs while batting .338 and slugging .721.
Meanwhile, in the circle, Wilkey had a truly stellar weekend. She picked up the win in four of the Wildcats' five games and allowing exactly ZERO runs in 20.2 innings pitched while holding opponents to a microscopic .129 batting average.
She started the weekend with a complete-game three-hit shutout of Penn State, then earned wins in relief in the final three games of the tournament. Each time, she entered with the opponent either in the lead or rallying, and she shut them down to allow Northwestern to come from behind or pull back out in front.
Most notably, she entered a second game against Penn State with Northwestern trailing, 4-0, and threw six HITLESS innings of relief to allow the comeback in a 6-4 Wildcats win.
Wilkey has an overall 7-3 record with a 2.84 ERA and a .203 opponent batting average. She entered last weekend with a 4.27 ERA and lowered it a full 1.43 points in just a single weekend of action.
Northwestern returns to the diamond with two non-conference games Saturday, March 17, in Bloomington, Indiana. The Wildcats then open the Big Ten and home schedules March 23-25 when Minnesota comes to Sharon J. Drysdale Field.
Lewis has been named the Big Ten Player of the Week while Wilkey earned the Big Ten Freshman of the Week award. Lewis won the Freshman of the Week accolade on March 5, making this the second-straight week she has been honored by the Conference and also the second-straight week the #B1GCats have won the B1G newcomer award.
Lewis was dominant for the second-straight week, slugging 1.188 and driving in 2.2 runs per game at the Hilton Plaza Classic. After reaching base via a walk in the opener against Iowa State, she crushed a three-run home run in a win against Penn State. She then doubled home two runs in a rematch Saturday with the Nittany Lions.
Saturday night Lewis finished 2-for-4 with a double and a home run in a win against Houston. In that game, NU and Houston were tied going into the seventh inning when Lewis un-broke the tie with a timely solo home run. On Sunday, Lewis had a career-best game, finishing a triple shy of the cycle in an 11-3 win. She drove in a career-best five and scored twice.
For the season, Lewis leads the entire Big Ten with 27 RBIs while batting .338 and slugging .721.
What does a 5-0 weekend look like?
— NorthwesternSoftball (@NUSBcats) March 12, 2018
THIS!#B1GCats pic.twitter.com/w1XnrZNCuk
Meanwhile, in the circle, Wilkey had a truly stellar weekend. She picked up the win in four of the Wildcats' five games and allowing exactly ZERO runs in 20.2 innings pitched while holding opponents to a microscopic .129 batting average.
She started the weekend with a complete-game three-hit shutout of Penn State, then earned wins in relief in the final three games of the tournament. Each time, she entered with the opponent either in the lead or rallying, and she shut them down to allow Northwestern to come from behind or pull back out in front.
Most notably, she entered a second game against Penn State with Northwestern trailing, 4-0, and threw six HITLESS innings of relief to allow the comeback in a 6-4 Wildcats win.
Wilkey has an overall 7-3 record with a 2.84 ERA and a .203 opponent batting average. She entered last weekend with a 4.27 ERA and lowered it a full 1.43 points in just a single weekend of action.
Northwestern returns to the diamond with two non-conference games Saturday, March 17, in Bloomington, Indiana. The Wildcats then open the Big Ten and home schedules March 23-25 when Minnesota comes to Sharon J. Drysdale Field.