LOUISVILLE, Ky. –Alabama’s Kaylee Tow and Virginia Tech’s Keely Rochard were selected Louisville Slugger/NFCA Player of the Week and Wilson/NFCA Pitcher of the Week for Division I, respectively. The duo was honored for its play during the week of Feb. 15-21. It marked the first recognition for Tow and the fourth for Rochard.
Tow, who hails from Madisonville, Ky., batted a robust .786 (11-for-14) with two doubles, a home run, nine RBI and seven runs over the course of four games last weekend. She recorded four multi-hit games, including a season-best three against RV Liberty and back-to-back contests against then-No. 8 LSU. She slugged 1.143 and reached base at an .800 clip. In a 13-5 win over the Tigers, Tow scored three times and drove in a career-high five runs helping No. 4 Alabama to its highest run total in program history against the Tigers.
Rochard posted complete-game wins over then-No. 13 Florida State (twice) and RV Clemson. The junior righty went 3-1 last week with a 0.91 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 23 innings of work. Bouncing back from a game-one defeat against the Tigers (4 IP, 6R, 1 ER), Rochard held Clemson to a run on three hits with four punchouts in a 4-1 victory. She surrendered a run on three hits with seven strikeout and no free passes in game-two win against the Seminoles. Rochard capped off the weekend with a one-hit shutout of FSU give the 14th-ranked Hokies an early Atlantic Coach Conference series win. The Williamsburg, Va. native struck out nine Seminoles in the 6-0 triumph.
Selected Top Performances
Gabbie Plain, Washington – 3-0, 1.56 ERA, 2 CG, SHO, 37 K, 8 H, 3 BB, 17.1 IP; Emily Schultz, Stanford - .727, 2B, 3B, HR, 9 RBI, 1.273 SLG; Kayla Kowalik, Kentucky - .750 (15-for-20), 2 2B, 3B, HR, 13 RBI, 4 BB. .760 OBP; Kelly Maxwell, Oklahoma State – no-hitter vs TAMU-Corpus Christi (10 K, 6 IP); Grace Vesco, Saint Francis (Pa.) – 2-0, 1.00 ERA, 17 K, 4 H, 3 BB, .087 opp. BA, 14 IP, no-hitter v Buffalo (11 K); Grace Chavez, Virginia Tech – 5 G, 5 H, 4 HR, 6 RBI, homered in each of final four games last week; Tayven Rousseau, Saint Francis (Pa.) - .538, 7 H, 2B, HR, 9 RBI, .600 OBP; Naleigh Harris, Wichita State – 4 G, .545, 4 2B HR, 4 R, 6 RBI, 1.182 SLG, .615 OBP; Mary Haff, Arkansas – 3-0, 1.06 ERA, 18 K, 19.2 IP; Alana Vawt, Stanford – 2-0. 0.82 ERA, 14 K, 1 ER, 11 IP; Lauren Gutierrez, Nevada - .563, 9 H, 2B, HR, 8 RBI, 3 R, .632 OBP.
