Northwestern University Athletics
Eileen Canney Named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week
4/24/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 24, 2006
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Junior Eileen Canney (Paradise, Calif./Paradise) has been named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week for the second-consecutive week and the third time this season after striking out an NCAA-record 28 batters in Northwestern's 18-inning, 4-3 win at Minnesota Sunday.
Canney matched Baylor's Cristen Vitek, who whiffed 28 in a 16-inning NCAA Tournament win over North Carolina on May 20, 2004.
Canney entered the game ranked 12th in the nation with 11.1 strikeouts per seven innings, and now leads the Big Ten with a 0.62 ERA in conference outings.
Canney now has 249 strikeouts for the season, jumping three-time All-American Lisa Ishikawa's 1986 season of 230 K's for fifth on NU's single-season strikeout list.
Canney also started and pitched 6.1 innings Tuesday against Notre Dame in the first-ever nationally televised game at Sharon J. Drysdale Field. She did not allow an earned run in the outing.
The honor gives the Wildcats eight Big Ten Weekly accolades this season, doubling anyone else in the conference. Michigan has the second-most honors with four. Canney shared this week's honor with the Wolverines' Jennie Ritter.
