Lenoir-Rhyne’s Atkins, Belk Named Softball Players Of The Week

ROCK HILL, S.C. - Lenoir-Rhyne University's Noel Belk (Charlotte, N.C.) and Sarah Atkins (Newport News, Va.) have been named the South Atlantic Conference Pitcher and Player of the Week, league officials announced Tuesday.

Belk went 4-0 for the week with a 0.50 earned run average, 23 strikeouts and two shutouts to lead Lenoir-Rhyne to a 6-1 week. The senior right-hander started the week with a two-hit, 10-strikeout performance in an 8-1 victory over East Stroudsburg at home on Tuesday. She finished her week with back-to-back shutouts against USC Aiken (3-0) and UNC Pembroke (6-0) on Saturday and Sunday, respectively in the Francis Marion Patriot Invitational. Belk is now 9-0 on the year with a 0.68 earned run average and five shutouts in leading Lenoir-Rhyne to a 15-2 start to the year.

Sarah Atkins

Noel Belk

Atkins led Lenoir-Rhyne with a .444 batting average (8-of-18) with a home run and eight RBIs. The freshman first-baseman opened the week with two hits, one a two-run home run, in L-R's 8-1 game one victory over East Stroudsburg. In the first game of the Francis Marion Patriot Invitational, Atkins drove in three runs in a 10-3 victory over St. Andrews Presbyterian. She followed with a 3-for-3 effort on Saturday against St. Leo. Atkins is tied for the team lead in home runs with three, and is second in RBIs with 14.

The SAC Player of the Week is determined by a vote of the league's sports information directors.