[2023 MIAA Softball Athletes of the Week: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3]

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletes Association announced its fourth Softball Athletes of the Week for the 2023 season.
 
MIAA Hitter of the Week – Mackenzie DeVine – Missouri Western  
Every day at the NFCA Leadoff Classic was a good day Mackenzie DeVine, who helped lead the Griffons to a 5-0 weekend with a .471 batting average. Named to the NFCA Leadoff Classic All-Tournament Team, DeVine logged 11 RBI, three home runs, two triples and six runs scored while totaling a team-high 21 bases. DeVine’s highlight moment of the tournament came in MWUS’s win over Charleston, where DeVine blasted a two-out, two-run home run to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh inning.
 
MIAA Pitcher of the Week – Jaycee Ginter – Washburn    
Jaycee Ginter went 3-0 in four appearances and two starts in the circle last weekend and finished with a minuscule 0.46 ERA and a total of 24 strikeouts in 15 1/3 innings pitched. Ginter allowed a total of just one run, three hits (all singles), and two walks in her time in the circle to hold opponents to a .063 batting average. She threw 13-consecutive innings across three games without allowing a hit. In the 7-0 win over the University of Mary, Ginter threw the first four innings of a combined no hitter and surrendered just two walks while striking out five in the win. She carried that momentum into the next game against Minnesota Crookston and tossed a perfect 5 1/3 frames in relief and did not allow a run, hit, walk, or hit batter while striking out 11 of the 16 batters she faced. In that game, she struck out six batters in a row, all looking.
 
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Hitters
Omara Love – Northwest Missouri
Omara Love hit .846 (11-for-13) over four games at the Washburn Invitational. The Bearcats freshman scored six runs and drew a walk. Nine of her 11 hits were singles and she added two doubles. She also slugged 1.000 with an .800 on-base percentage. Love opened the weekend going 4-for-4 against Wayne State. She then went 4-for-3 with three runs and two RBI against Southwest Minnesota State. Love went 0-for-1 with a walk and a run scored against the University of Mary. She finished the tournament going 3-for-4 with two doubles and two runs scored in a 12-7 win over Rockhurst.
 
Peyton Shepard – Fort Hays State
Peyton Shepard was instrumental in Fort Hays State going a perfect 6-0 at the Washburn Invitational. The Tiger leadoff hitter scored nine of the teams 46 runs for the week and had an on-base percentage of .636 with 10 hits in 18 at bats, three walks, and was hit by a pitch. On the basepaths, she was a perfect 5-of-5 in stolen base attempts. Shepard generated the first run for FHSU in three of the teams five shutouts for the weekend, getting on base in her first at bat of those contests.
 
Marrit Mead – Wasburn
Marrit Mead led the Ichabod offense in four games last week hitting .538 (7-of-13) with a 1.000 slugging percentage after recording a home run, three doubles, five RBI and scoring four times. She also did not strike out at all last weekend. In the 7-0 win over University or Mary, Mead was 2-3 with a two-run home run and a double and scored twice.
 
Pitchers
Savanah Egger – Fort Hays State
Savanah Egger threw three consecutive complete-game shutouts at the Washburn Invitational. She struck out 20 batters in 19 innings of work. Egger threw a three-hit shutout with six strikeouts in a 2-0 win against Southwest Minnesota State, then matched her career high in strikeouts with 12 in another 2-0 win against Rockhurst. She closed out her week with a two-hit shutout in a five-inning 9-0 run-rule win against Mary. Egger had a strong 0.74 WHIP for the week and her 19 innings of scoreless work helped the Tiger pitching staff to a 0.39 team ERA for the 6-0 team effort in Topeka.
 
Sam Pederson – Missouri Western
Sam Pederson recorded a 1-0 showing at the NFCA Leadoff Classic, appearing three times to pitch 15 innings with 17 strikeouts and only three earned runs to speak of. Recording a 1.40 ERA overall, Pederson struck out nine batters in seven innings against Bridgeport during her first appearance of the tournament, setting the tone for the Griffons successful weekend.
 
ALSO NOMINATED
Hitters: Jaylan Gibson (Rogers State), Ashlyn Cook (Central Missouri), Paxtyn Hayes (Pittsburg State), Chloe Bohuslavicky (Northeastern State)
 
Pitchers: Sara Llamas-Howell (Rogers State), Hannah Harrison (Pittsburg State)