Feb. 23, 2009
Player of the Week:
Lana Armstrong, Illinois
Senior Catcher
Rowlett, Texas - Garland
Lana Armstrong earns her second career weekly laurel after leading Illinois to five wins last week, including a pair of victories against ranked opponents to become the first Illini squad to accomplish the feat in program history. Armstrong was especially key in those two wins, going 2-for-3 with a home run, two runs and two RBIs against No. 18/21 Houston then driving in four of Illinois' five runs as she went 3-for-3 in the 5-4 win over the No. 19/24 Texas A&M Aggies. Overall, the senior catcher batted .571 while recording 10 RBIs over the weekend. This marks the second weekly award for Armstrong, who garnered her first weekly accolade in March of 2007.
Last Illinois Player of the Week: Danielle Zymkowitz (Feb. 9, 2009)
Pitcher of the Week:
Brittany Weil, Iowa
Senior Pitcher
Garden Grove, Calif. - Pacifica
Senior Brittany Weil became just the second player in Iowa school history to throw two no-hitters in a single season last weekend at the K-Club Classic. Weil tossed a five-inning no-hitter at Kennesaw State while striking out 12 of the 19 batters she faced. Only four Owl runners reached base. She joins former Hawkeye all-American Debbie Bilbao (1997) as the only pitcher to throw two no-hitters in a season. The Garden Grove, Calif., native was one strike away from a perfect game the previous day against Miami (OH). Weil took a perfect game through 6.2 innings, but gave up a slow-rolling single with a two-strike count with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. She retired the first 20 batters before giving up the lone hit. With 13 strike outs against Miami, Weil moves into second place on Iowa's all-time strikeout list with 822. She is now 124 strikeouts behind career leader Lisa Birroci. Against Memphis, Weil threw her sixth complete game and fourth shutout of the season. She allowed one hit and then retired the next 15 batters in a row. She also struck out nine. For the weekend, Weil threw 19.2 innings of shutout softball, with five appearances. She started three games and threw complete game shutouts in all three starts. Weil struck out 41 of the 68 batters she faced, allowing only eight of those batters to reach base. This is the fourth pitcher of the week award for Weil, who earned back-to-back weekly laurels during April of her junior campaign and once in 2007 in the same month.
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Last Iowa Pitcher of the Week: Brittany Weil (April 21, 2008)
