Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Earn Big Ten Player, Freshman of the Week Awards
4/25/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 25, 2011
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern junior Adrienne Monka (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga) has been named the Big Ten Player of the Week while Marisa Bast (Orange, Calif./Villa Park) has earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors following NU's sweep of Ohio State at Sharon J. Drysdale Field.
Monka did not record a single out against the Buckeyes, going 3-for-3 with seven RBIs, a 2.333 slugging percentage and five walks (two intentional). Monka broke open Saturday's 14-0 (5) win with a three-run second-inning home run before adding a two-run double in the fourth frame.
After that five RBI performance, Ohio State intentionally walked her in her first two plate appearances Sunday, but in her final at-bat she stroked a two-run single to account for the final 12-2 run-rule score. Monka ranks first in the nation with a .701 on-base percentage and 1.29 walks per game this season. She is in the top-10 nationally with a .506 batting average, a .951 slugging percentage and 1.31 RBIs per game.
Bast batted .800 in Northwestern's sweep of Ohio State, driving in four runs and slugging 1.400 with an .833 on-base percentage. On Saturday, Bast recorded three singles, driving in a run on every one of them. Then on Sunday, she contributed to Northwestern's eight-run outburst in the fourth inning with a solo home run that was the second half of back-to-back jacks for NU.
Monka and Bast join senior Jessica Smith (Encinitas, Calif./La Costa Canyon) and Emily Allard (Antioch, Calif./Deer Valley) as Big Ten weekly award winners this season. Smith twice has been named Pitcher of the Week while Allard earned an earlier Player of the Week honor.
In other NU softball news, Monday's rescheduled 6:30 p.m. CT game against UIC -- which was moved after the original April 20 date was rained out -- also has been canceled due to impending storms in Chicago tonight. The game now will not be made up.
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