For the second time this season, sophomore Lauren Berin (Lacey, ) was named GNAC Player of the Week, while senior Erin Martin () earned her tenth career GNAC Pitcher of the Week honor after they helped Seattle University win six of seven games over the past week and earn a share of the conference title.
Berin hit .500 (9-of-18) last week, including six doubles, and drove in seven runs, plus she drew three walks. Her first hit of the week came in the first inning of the second game against Western Washington, as her two-run double started the Redhawks on their way to a 10-0 victory. She earned two hits in each of the games of Thursday’s doubleheader at Western Oregon, and then went 4-for-4, with all the hits being doubles, in Saturday’s doubleheader sweep over ’s.
With her performance last week, Berin is back in second on the team with a .381 batting average, a .560 slugging percentage, a .456 on-base percentage, 12 doubles, four home runs, and 19 walks. She leads the squad with 41 runs batted in and is tied for the team lead with 35 runs scored. She was previously named GNAC Player of the Week on March 31 after being named to the All-Tournament Team at the Mizuno Tournament of Champions.
For the third time this season, Martin earned the conference’s weekly pitching honor after going 4-0, including three shutouts, to set a new school single season record for victories with 24. She allowed only one hit in eight innings in shutting out Western Washington last Tuesday, battled back from one bad inning to defeat Western Oregon Thursday, came back Friday to shut out the Wolves on a two-hitter, and completed the week with a four-hitter on Senior Day against Saint Martin’s.
Martin goes into the postseason with a 24-4 record and a 1.85 earned run average. She owns the GNAC records for career victories with 88 and career shutouts with 36, plus she has struck out 103 batters this season, the fourth consecutive season that she has earned more than 100 strikeouts in a season. By not allowing any walks in 27 innings of work last week, she lowered her walks per seven innings ratio to 0.51, which if maintained will be a school single season record.
Seattle University (37-12) earned its fourth postseason berth in five years and will begin the West Regional of the NCAA Tournament by facing Cal State Stanislaus Wednesday, May 7, at approximately 11:30 a.m. Last year the Redhawks advanced to the regional title game before losing to the Warriors, 1-0.