SLIAC Announces Spring Sports Players of the Week for Week of April 11-17

St. Louis, Mo. - The St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) has announced the spring sports players of the week for the week of April 11-17.

BASEBALL - PITCHER
Principia College's Luke Ball, a freshman from Orlando, Fla. (Edgewater), has been named the Diamond Sports SLIAC Baseball Pitcher of the Week for the week of April 11-17.

Ball, a 6-3 right-handed pitcher, threw 88 pitches in 7.0 innings en route to a 9-1 complete game victory versus Blackburn College. He allowed four hits, one earned run and gave up no walks, while also tying the Principia single-game school record with 11 strikeouts.

BASEBALL - HITTER
Greenville College's Daniel Covert, a senior from Trenton, Ill. (Wesclin), has been named the Diamond Sports SLIAC Baseball Hitter of the Week for the week of April 11-17.

Covert, a 6-5 left-handed batter, hit .462 6-for-13) at the plate and tallied 11 RBI in four games played last week. He had a triple, one run scored and two RBI in a 10-2 win against Fontbonne University. Covert then went 5-for-6 with eight RBI in a double header versus Westminster College (Mo.). He went 2-for-2 with one RBI in game one, and he followed that with a 3-for-4 performance with one double, a grand slam and seven RBI in game two.

SOFTBALL - PITCHER
Webster University's Trisha Thompson, a freshman from Glendale, Ariz. (Xavier Prep), has been named the SLIAC Softball Pitcher of the Week for the week of April 11-17. This marks the second time this season that she has earned the honor.

Thompson, a 5-2 right-handed pitcher, recorded one win and two saves in three total appearances last week. In 8.1 innings on the mound she allowed four hits, one walk, no runs and struck out nine batters. Thompson pitched a complete game shutout with an 11-0 victory versus Eureka College. She gave up three hits, one walk and struck out five batters in 5.0 complete innings of work.

Earlier in the week at Principia College, Thompson relieved both starters in the Gorloks double header sweep. After a three-run fifth inning by the Panthers in game one that cut Webster's lead to 4-3, Thompson shutdown Principia in the final two innings to record the save. In the second game, with the tying run on base in the sixth inning, Thompson forced a ground out to end the threat. She then went on to strike out the side in the seventh and record her second save of the week.

SOFTBALL - HITTER
Principia College's Andie Raffles, a senior from Chicago, Ill., has been named the SLIAC Softball Hitter of the Week for the week of April 11-17.

Raffles, a utility player, tallied 10 hits, five runs and eight RBI in six games played last week, while posting a .500 batting average for the week. She recorded three multi-hit games, including a 2-for-4 performance in game two of a double header against Webster University. Raffles was 2-for-2 with two RBI and a home run in the second game of the series with Blackburn College. She finished the week with a 3-for-5 performance, including three RBI, three runs, two doubles and one home run in a 12-4 victory versus non-conference opponent Stephens College.

MEN'S GOLF
Webster University's Dan Klipsch, a sophomore from Joliet, Ill. (Joliet Catholic), has been named the SLIAC Men's Golfer of the Week for the week of April 11-17.

Klipsch shot an even par 72 at the John McNaughton Memorial Classic held at Jacksonville Country Club in Jacksonville, Ill. He placed first out of 46 golfers competing, defeating his teammate and two-time previous golfer of the week Kyler Scott by one stroke. Klipsch's score of 72 is his lowest collegiate score and it marks his second victory this season.

Webster placed first at the John McNaughton Memorial Classic with a score of 297, enough to win the event by 26 shots in the six team field.

MEN'S TENNIS
Westminster College's Tony Stephenson, a sophomore from Jefferson City, Mo. (Helias), has been named the SLIAC Men's Tennis Player of the Week for the week of April 11-17.

Stephenson was crowned SLIAC Player of the Year after winning the #1 singles title at the SLIAC Individual Tournament this past weekend. He defeated Principia College's Weston Kalogeridis 6-3, 6-3 in his first tournament match. Stephenson then went on to defeat Greenville College's Joe Newlin 6-3, 6-2 to earn his second straight SLIAC singles title and Player of the Year honors.

Stephenson also earned First Team All-Conference honors at #2 doubles along with teammate Alec Belden. The duo won their tournament matches 8-3 against both Principia and Webster University.

WOMEN'S TENNIS
Principia College's Carlie Sanderude, a freshman from Ridgefield, Conn., has been named the SLIAC Women's Tennis Player of the Week for the week of April 11-17. This marks the second consecutive week that she has earned the honor.

Sanderude won the individual singles championship to be named SLIAC Player of the Year. She defeated Greenville College's Jamie Harling 6-1, 6-1, before taking down Webster University's Alison Tungate 6-2, 6-2 to earn the #1 singles crown.

Sanderude and teammate Sarah Corbitt also won the #1 doubles championship with an 8-2 victory over Westminster College and an 8-1 win against Webster. The pair earned First Team All-Conference for the accomplishment.

MEN'S TRACK
Principia College's Drew Clark, a junior from Hopkinton, Mass., has been named the SLIAC Men's Track Performer of the Week for the week of April 11-17.

Clark won the 1500-meter run at the Rose-Hulman Twilight meet with a time of 3:54.34. He posted the time, which set a new stadium record, in a very tough wind to defeat 29 other runners competing. His time was also the best time among the SLIAC in the 1500-meter this season.

MEN'S FIELD
Greenville College's Josh Kuusisto, a freshman from Show Low, Ariz., has been named the SLIAC Men's Field Performer of the Week for the week of April 11-17.

Kuusisto defeated his personal best by almost 17 feet in the hammer throw with a mark of 153'8". He placed third out of 28 competitors at the Rose-Hulman Twilight Meet, helping Greenville to a third place finish out of 11 teams.

WOMEN'S TRACK
Principia College's Casey Powell, a sophomore from Colorado Springs, Colo., has been named the SLIAC Women's Track Performer of the Week for the week of April 11-17.

Powell ran a time of 2:23.05 in the 800-meter run to place second out of 24 runners at the Rose-Hulman Twilight Meet. She nearly matched her personal record in strong winds and defeated the next SLIAC runner in the field by more than six seconds.

WOMEN'S FIELD
Greenville College's Rochaunda Harris, a senior from East St. Louis, Ill., has been named the SLIAC Women's Field Performer of the Week for the week of April 11-17.

Harris placed first in both the hammer throw and shot put at the Rose-Hulman Twilight Meet this past weekend. She posted an NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 49.13m (161'2") in the hammer throw to finish first out of 18 competitors. Harris also finished first out of 17 competitors in the shot put with a mark of 37'6.50", which is currently the top mark among all SLIAC competitors.