NEW YORK -- For the first time this season, the Wildcats won both top player and pitcher awards from the BIG EAST Conference as
Ava Franz was named the league's Player of the Week while
Lexi Kobryn earned Pitcher of the Week honors and
Brooklyn Ostrowski received mention on the Weekly Honor Roll.
It's the fourth top player honor of Franz's career but her first this season. It was a banner week at the plate for VU's shortstop, who batted .769 with 10 hits, seven runs and nine RBI with two home runs on her ledger.
The senior from Aston, Pennsylvania, recorded a multi-hit game in all four matchups this week, scoring three times on a pair of hits against Drexel and going three-for-three with the game-winning RBI on Saturday vs. DePaul. In Sunday's doubleheader, Franz drove home three runs on a walkoff homer to induce the run rule in game one then added three hits, two runs and four RBI with another three-run shot in game two.
First-year pitcher Kobryn picked up her second career Pitcher of the Week after refusing to allow a run in two starts this week, striking out eight over the course of 10 innings.
The New Jersey native allowed just three hits and two walks with an .091 batting average against, earning a pair of wins in the circle. Kobryn went four innings of one-hit ball against Drexel on Wednesday, then fanned five in a shutout six-frame victory in game two against DPU.
Ostrowski earned her second weekly honor roll of the year and her career this week after accomplishing something that hadn't been done at VU since 1977. The redshirt senior became the second Wildcat ever to hit three home runs in a single game, joining Sandy Arena from the program's inaugural season after a trio of dingers in game two opposite DePaul.
The Port Chester, New York, product added a two-hit, five-RBI outing in the midweek victory over Drexel, hitting a two-run homer in that contest as well.
Franz, Kobryn, Ostrowski and the Wildcats will compete in four road matchups this week, heading to Delaware for a Tuesday contest before a three-game series at Butler from Thursday through Sunday.
