Volume 4, April 1, 2009

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Cornell junior Ashley Garvey (Plymouth, Mass.) led the Big Red softball team to a perfect 4-0 start to open Ivy play this weekend against Brown and Yale, extending its overall win streak to 10. Garvey hit .615 for the week with two doubles and two home runs to help put Cornell in first place in the Ivy South Division. She drove in a team-high eight RBI and had a 1.231 slugging percentage. The first baseman was perfect in the field with 24 putouts and one assist. Garvey opened the weekend hitting .714 against the Bears going five-for-seven at the plate.

PITCHER & ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Harvard freshman pitcher Rachel Brown (San Diego, Calif.) made a dazzling Ivy League debut Saturday, striking out 14 batters in a one-hit, 1-0 shutout of Columbia in Harvard's league opener. She followed that performance with another Ivy win Monday at Penn, striking out 12 while allowing one run on seven hits. She added two non-league appearances, finishing the week with a 3-1 record, 0.88 earned-run average and 48 strikeouts in 24 innings. She gave up just 14 hits and five walks during the week. Brown suffered the first loss of her career Tuesday at UNC Greensboro, despite striking out 10 and allowing just six hits and three runs, two earned. She bounced back with an incredible relief appearance Saturday at Bryant. She pitched four innings, striking out 12 of the 14 batters to come to the plate and not allowing a hit. Brown is 10-1 with a 1.05 ERA.

THE HONOR ROLL
Brown freshman Jackie Giovanniello (Floral Park, N.Y.) had a solid week for the Bear softball team (4-15, 1-3 Ivy), as she batted .368 from the plate in nine games. Combining for seven hits, which included two doubles, Giovanniello tallied six RBI and earned one walk. She had one of her best games of the season when she lead the Bears’ with a three-of-four performance in Bruno’s 12-10 loss to North Florida, as she brought in a team-high three RBI.

Columbia sophomore Maggie Johnson (Danville, Calif.) had a strong week at the plate for the Lions. The designated player had two home runs in crucial situations to help lift the Lions to wins. Her first home run of the week came against Fairleigh Dickinson, a seventh inning hit that sparked Columbia’s late game rally, helping the Lions take the 4-2 win. Johnson had her second homer of the week in Columbia’s Ivy League win over Harvard. She pitched a complete game shut-out and hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning that gave the Lions the 2-0 win. Johnson has a .456 slugging percentage this season, leads the team in total bases (31) and is second on the team in RBI, with 11 so far.

Cornell sophomore pitcher Elizabeth Dalrymple (Devon, Pa.) helped lead the Big Red to an impressive 4-0 Ivy start this weekend earning two wins. Dalrymple had a 1.45 ERA for the weekend, while striking out 13 batters. Dalrymple is now 10-1 for the year with a 1.03 overall ERA. The sophomore opened the weekend with a win against Brown, only allowing one hit in the 11-0 victory. Dalrymple followed by shutting down Yale batters in key situations in Cornell's 4-2 win over the Bulldogs, where she recorded eight strikeouts and left six runners on base.

In seven games last week Dartmouth senior Ashley Gleason (Costa Mesa, Calif.) led her squad to a 5-2 record, 3-1 in the league as she batted .455 in seven starts. She racked up 10 hits and six runs along with five extra-base hits. Gleason had a .773 slugging percentage as well as a .478 on-base percentage. She also had three multi-hit games, including a team-best three-for-four performance in an Ivy League win over Columbia. Against St. Mary's she hit two doubles and scored once in a 3-1 Big Green win. In Ivy Leauge play, Gleason had six hits with three runs scored.

Harvard junior Stephanie Krysiak (The Woodlands, Texas) started in centerfield and hit a team-best .526 (10-for-19) to lead the Crimson to a 6-2 record last week, including a 3-1 start to Ivy League play. She also reached base two other times, scored four runs, drove in two runs and recorded one assist from the outfield. She knocked in the lone run in Harvard's 1-0 win against Columbia to open Ivy League play. Krysiak helped key the sweep of Penn with a three-for-six day at the plate, an RBI in Game 1 and a run scored in Game 2. Her run-scoring single in the first game against the Quakers gave the Crimson a 2-0 lead in the eventual 3-1 win. She also had a three-for-three, two-run performance in the second game of a sweep of Bryant earlier in the week.

Penn sophomore Alisha Prystowsky (Montclair, N.J.) went nine-for-17 over Penn’s 6 games for a .529 batting average this week. Prystowsky had a three run homer in Penn’s 8-0 win over Dartmouth, followed by a solo home run versus Harvard. Starting all 23 games for the Quakers, she currently leads the team in batting average (.355), slugging percentage (.529) and runs (15).

Princeton senior shortstop Kathryn Welch (Yardley, Pa.) hit .583 (seven-for-12) and drew two walks in Princeton's four games to start the Ivy season over the weekend, including one home run, one triple and one double for a slugging percentage of 1.083. Her three RBI were a team-best, and she had a hit in all four games.

Yale senior pitcher Rebecca Wojciak (Westminster, Mass.) pitched three complete games and won two for the Bulldogs last week. In 20 innings, she allowed only five earned runs (1.75 ERA) and had 16 strikeouts. Against Princeton, she allowed two runs in the first inning and then shut down the Tigers the rest of the way, including retiring the last eight batters she faced, as the Bulldogs rallied for a 3-2 victory. She yielded only four hits and struck out four. Earlier in the week against Army, Wojciak struck out eight and did not allow an earned run in 8-1 victory. She allowed only three extra base hits in her two appearances. Against Cornell, she limited the high-powered Big Red offense to only five hits.

2009 AWARDWINNERS
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Mar. 10— Elise Menaker (Cornell)
Mar. 17 — Lauren Huddleston (Yale)
Mar. 24— Elise Menaker (Cornell)
Apr. 1 — Ashley Garvey (Cornell)

PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Mar. 10— Rachel Brown (Harvard)
Mar. 17 — Maggie Johnson (Columbia)
Mar. 24 — Elizabeth Dalrymple (Cornell)
Apr. 1 — Rachel Brown (Harvard)

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Mar. 10— Molly Khalill (Dartmouth)
Mar. 17 — Jamie Boccanfuso (Penn)
Mar. 24 — Rachel Brown (Harvard)
Apr. 1 — Rachel Brown (Harvard)