Big South Announces Softball Players of the Week - March 4
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – Radford’s Abby Wilson (Riner, Va.) has been named the Big South Player of the Week, while Gardner-Webb’s Andrea Lyon (West Columbia, S.C.) is the Pitcher of the Week for games played Feb. 26-March 3, it was announced today. In addition, Longwood’s Maggie Hiatt (Henrico, Va.) is the Freshman of the Week honoree.
Wilson batted .438 (7-16) with five RBI and two extra-base hits as the Highlanders faced off against four separate opponents in five games. After beginning the week with a two-score home run in a tight loss to the Virginia Cavaliers, she delivered six hits at the Thundering Herd Invitational in West Virginia which included a 6-5 victory over Purdue. Wilson cracked a two-out RBI in the 2nd inning to help Radford achieve the program’s first win over a power opponent since 2019, going 3-4 at the plate in that meeting with the Boilermakers. She added another two-out RBI in the squad’s last outing of the weekend versus Butler, slugging .688 for the week alongside a .444 on-base percentage.
Lyon tossed 16 innings on her way to a 2-0 record in the circle and the Pitcher of the Week award for the second straight week, lining up 19 strikeouts and a 1.00 earned run average. She never left the circle in consecutive victories over Binghamton and Mercer, retiring a season-high 11 batters in the win over the Bears. That victory against Mercer extended to nine innings, where Lyon prevented a potential game-winning run from coming home in the final stanza. Three of her last four outings have resulted in a complete game, gaining two such performances this week.
Hiatt secured a .600 batting average (6-10) as the Lancers produced a 3-1 weekend, administering one homer, two doubles, and seven RBI. She recorded a slugging percentage of 1.100 which included back-to-back perfect games at the plate (2-2 vs. Stetson and 3-3 vs. Brown), going for at least one RBI in three straight outings. Hiatt drove in four runs throughout a 9-6 triumph over the Hatters, going on to land her first career home run (as well as a double) during an eight-inning W over the Bears.
Also nominated for Player of the Week: Kayleigh Nicholson (Gardner-Webb), Kayley DeVivi (Longwood), Emma Jackson (Winthrop), and Denver Lauer (USC Upstate).
Also nominated for Pitcher of the Week: Annah Junge (Charleston Southern), Maggie Chapin (Longwood), Peyton Duncan (Presbyterian), and Sierra Maness (USC Upstate).
Also nominated for Freshman of the Week: Abby Polk (USC Upstate).