The NESCAC has released its Players of the Week for the week of May 6. The conference recognizes student-athletes for each sport based on their contributions to their team each week. This week student-athletes are honored in the sports of baseball, men's lacrosse, women's lacrosse, and softball.
Baseball | Weekly Release & Honor Roll
Player of the Week
Ryan Grace - Colby - Jr. IF/OF - Concord, Mass.
Grace led Colby to three victories last week including a NESCAC Quarterfinal sweep of Wesleyan. The junior collected six hits, five of which were doubles, scored five runs and drove on five more. Grace finished the week hitting .500 with a .917 slugging percentage and .647 OBP. In the doubleheader against the Cardinals, Grace reached base in seven of 11 plate appearances, including five of six in the clinching extra-inning win.
Pitcher of the Week
Nicholas Giattino - Amherst - Sr. - P - Pound Ridge, N.Y.
Giattino pitched a nine-inning complete-game, two-hitter to lead the Mammoths past Bowdoin, 2-1, and force a third and deciding game. The senior walked four and struck out five. With the score tied 1-1 in the top of the seventh, Bowdoin had runners on second and third with no outs, but Giattino retired the next three hitters without allowing the Polar Bears to score. Giattino retired 14 of the final 16 batters he faced and in the top of the ninth, on his 102nd pitch, he hit 91 mph, the fastest pitch of his Amherst career. The nine-inning complete game was the first of his Amherst career. Giattino improved to 5-1 on the season.
Men's Lacrosse Player of the Week
Conor Selfridge - Wesleyan - So. - G - Elmhurst, Ill.
Selfridge played the best game of his collegiate career in the NESCAC title game, making a career-high 17 saves as the Cardinal defense shined in a 9-7 NESCAC Championship-winning victory over Middlebury on Sunday. Selfridge made at least four saves in all four quarters against the Panthers and easily broke his previous career-best of 14 from a win over Bowdoin on April 20. Selfridge also made seven saves in a 12-6 win over Hamilton in the NESCAC Semifinal win on Saturday, giving him 24 saves with 13 goals allowed over the NESCAC Championship weekend.
Women's Lacrosse Player of the Week
Chloe Newman - Middlebury - Sr. - D - Needham, Mass.
Newman helped Middlebury secure the program’s 12th NESCAC title and second in a row with a stellar performance on defense. Anchoring the unit, the Panther collected six groundballs and caused six turnovers over the 2-0 weekend. Newman has started all 16 games for Middlebury this season, and is second on the squad with 26 rollers while ranking third with 17 caused turnovers.
Softball | Weekly Release & Honor Roll
Player of the Week
Kelly McGuigan - Williams - Sr. IF - San Mateo, Calif.
McGuigan went 8-of-14 batting (.571), with five RBI, three runs scored, two home runs, and two doubles in a 3-1 week for the Ephs. In a 7-5, 14-inning loss to RPI, in a game that started on April 9 at Williams and finished on May 1 at RPI, McGuigan went 4-of-5 batting, with three RBI, one home run, two doubles, and one run scored. The senior hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the 10th, which extended the game and knotted the score at 3-3. In a doubleheader sweep of NESCAC-rival Wesleyan on Saturday McGuigan went a combined 3-for-6 in the batter's box, with two RBI, one home run, and one run scored.
Pitcher of the Week
Sky Johnson - Tufts - Jr. - P - Pismo Beach, Calif.
Johnson went 2-0 with a 1.00 earned run average in 14 innings last week. The junior went the distance allowing four hits and two runs in a 5-2 Game 1 victory at Bowdoin on Saturday which clinched the No. 1 seed in the NESCAC Championship for Tufts. At Babson on Tuesday, Johnson entered in relief and did not allow a run in seven innings helping the Jumbos come back from a 5-0 deficit to win 6-5 in eight innings. Johnson allowed nine hits and walked just two while striking out 10 in her two outings.
