OKLAHOMA CITY – It is not often that two of a team's players win National player of the week awards in the same week, but that is exactly what the Mid-America Christian University softball team accomplished on Monday afternoon. The Lady Evangels swept their way through six home games last week, and when the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) announced its Student-Athlete of the Week awards on Monday afternoon, MACU had both softball honorees.
Hannah Salmon was named the fielder Student-Athlete of the Week, while Regan Martin took the Pitcher SAW honor for the second successive week. Salmon garners her first such award as a member of MACU's team.
Salmon, a 5-6 sophomore from Oklahoma City, helped MACU extend their winning streak to eight in a row, and she ran her own personal hitting streak to seven straight before going without a hit in her last game of the weekend. She posted a .591 (12-for-22) average in six games on the week, and in the five games in which she had a base hit, she recorded at least two knocks. She also hit four doubles, two triples, stole a base, scored nine runs, and drove in 10. She finished a homer shy of the cycle in the Lady Evangels' 12-2 win over Central Christian College in the weekend series opener, and she had a two out, two-RBI double to tie the game in game three of that set as the Lady Evangels rallied for a 4-3 win.
Martin, a 5-4 freshman from Sheridan, Arkansas, shined in the circle for the Lady Evangels. She allowed only one earned run in 18 innings of work on the week, and she posted a 3-0 record with a 0.39 ERA. She struck out 15 in the three games, but her best performance came in her last appearance of the week when she threw her second no-hitter in an eight day span. In the game, she blanked Central Christian 2-0, and she scattered three walks and struck out eight. Martin is now 6-1 on the year with a 2.15 ERA.
The Lady Evangels are scheduled to play again on Tuesday, weather permitting, at Southwestern Christian University (8-16, 3-7 SAC) at 2 p.m.
