Newberry’s Gatewood, Lenoir-Rhyne’s Smith Named Softball Players Of The Week

ROCK HILL, S.C. -- Newberry College's Aissa Gatewood has been named the South Atlantic Conference Softball Player of the Week and Lenoir-Rhyne University's Alex Smith earned league Pitcher of the Week honors for the week ending April 11, announced conference officials Monday.

Gatewood, a junior from North Charleston, S.C. (Fort Dorchester HS), led Newberry to a 2-2 record in splitting doubleheaders with Lenoir-Rhyne and Carson-Newman. Gatewood started every game and went 5-for-11 for a .455 batting average on the week. Two of her five hits went for extra bases as she had a double and a triple for a .727 slugging percentage. She was perfect defensively with five putouts and two assists. She was 2-for-3 with a double, triple and RBI as Newberry handed Lenoir-Rhyne its first conference loss in a 3-2 win on Tuesday.

Smith, a freshman right-handed pitcher from Cocoa, Fla. (Space Coast HS), won both decisions last week and did not allow a run in 11 innings pitched to go along with just one hit while striking out 11 batters in leading L-R to a 3-1 week. Smith pitched a one-hit, seven-strikeout shutout in a 1-0 win over Newberry Tuesday at home before holding Belmont Abbey without a run or a hit in four innings of work in a 12-3 win on the road Sunday. Smith is now 16-3 on the season with a 1.35 earned run average for No. 8 Lenoir-Rhyne (40-6, 11-1).

Aissa Gatewood	Alex Smith