(Courtesy Saint Louis Athletics)
Saint Louis sophomore pitcher Brianna Lore (Sullivan, Mo./Sullivan) has been named the Atlantic 10 Conference softball co-Player of the Week for the period of April 28-May 4, while Billiken freshman shortstop Alex Nickel (Steger, Ill./Marian Catholic) earned co-Rookie of the Week honors.
It is the fifth A-10 weekly honor this season for Lore, who has garnered Pitcher of the Week plaudits three times and Player of the Week accolades twice. She has six conference weekly awards in her career, adding this year’s honors to a Rookie of the Week selection in 2013. Nickel picked up her second Rookie of the Week nod.
Lore started and was the winning pitcher in all three games last week as Saint Louis defeated Bradley and swept an A-10 doubleheader against La Salle. She had 13 strikeouts and just two walks in 16 innings of work. At the plate, Lore had a pair of multi-hit games and drove in at least one run in all three contests, posting a .455 batting average (5-for-11), one home run and team highs of seven RBIs and three doubles. She tallied four RBIs vs. Bradley and three hits in game two vs. La Salle.
Lore leads the A-10 with a school-record 23 wins (23-11) and carries a 2.72 ERA. She averages just 1.93 walks per seven innings and has a 2.48 strikeouts-to-walks ratio. Lore is batting .289 with three home runs and is second on the team in RBIs (32) and doubles (10-tied).
Nickel hit safely and had an RBI in all three games. She collected three hits, including a home run, against Bradley and had two hits in the opener against La Salle. Nickel batted .600 (6-for-10) for the week, led the team with six hits and five runs, and handled 15 chances without an error.
For the season, Nickel is batting .314 with three homers and 20 RBIs. She is second on the team in hits (43), runs (33), walks (24), stolen bases (nine) and sacrifice bunts (five).
Saint Louis players have been recognized nine times and have earned all three A-10 weekly awards at least twice this season. Mackenzie Peter and Lindsay Friedman join Lore as recipients of Player of the Week accolades.
The Billikens (28-19, 12-5 A-10), whose current seven-game winning streak is tied for the program record, are the No. 2 seed for the A-10 Championship, hosted by Fordham in Bronx, N.Y., May 7-10. SLU receives a first-round bye and will play its first game Thursday, May 8, at 1:30 p.m. (CT) against the winner of Wednesday’s first-round game between No. 3 Saint Joseph’s and No. 6 La Salle. The six-team tournament is played in a double-elimination format.
Saint Louis’ second-place regular-season finish and .706 conference winning percentage are program bests in nine years of A-10 membership.
