Georgian Court junior pitcher Samantha Sasko and North Dakota junior outfielder Casie Hanson have been named Co-Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division II Players of the Week for the week ending April 13, 2008. 

Georgian Court’s Samantha Sasko (Groveville, N.J.) became the first GCU pitcher ever to pitch back-to-back no-hitters last week, striking out 12 in a five-inning no-hitter last Tuesday against Goldey-Beacom and allowing four walks in the contest. Sasko followed that effort with a five-inning perfect game on Thursday afternoon in the first game of a doubleheader against Bloomfield, striking out 13 in the perfect game. She extended her hitless streak to 11 innings before giving up a hit to Bloomfield in the second game of Thursday’s doubleheader 

Sasko also struck out a season-high 15 batters in Sunday’s game against USP and has allowed just 13 extra-base hits in 495 total at-bats on the season. 

For the week, the junior pitcher went 6-0 with 27.0 innings pitched and 54 strikeouts with nine walks. Sasko started five of the six games she pitched and had an 0.26 ERA for the week, allowing just one earned run during that span. 

Georgian Court is ranked 21st in today’s NFCA Division II Top 25 Poll. 

North Dakota junior outfielder Casie Hanson had a spectacular week at the plate for the Fighting Sioux. Hanson went 12-for-14 (.857) on the week over four games with 12 runs scored and eight RBI. Five of her 12 hits went for extra bases. She also walked twice for an .875 on-base percentage and went 3-for-3 on stolen bases. 

Hanson (St. Peter, Minn.) went 3-for-3 in each game of the doubleheader against Mayville State last Tuesday, scoring three runs in each game. She had a home run and three RBI in the first game of the doubleheader, whils she had two triples, a double and an RBI in the nightcap. 

Thursday’s doubleheader against Minnesota-Crookston saw Hanson open with a 2-for-4 performance at the plate that included two runs scored, two RBI and her eighth home run of the season, tying the UND single-season record. The junior slugger finished the weekend with a 4-for-4 performance in the second half of the Minnesota-Crookstown doubleheader. Hanson had four runs scored, two RBI, a walk and two stolen bases to complete her spectacular offensive week.