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

ROCK HILL, S.C. -- Lenoir-Rhyne University's Sarah Atkins has been named the South Atlantic Conference Softball Player of the Week and Newberry College's Amanda Huckestein earned league Pitcher of the Week honors for the week ending April 18, announced conference officials Monday.

Atkins, a sophomore catcher from Newport News, Va. (Warwick HS), batted .615 (eight-for-13) for the week with seven runs batted in to lead No. 9 Lenoir-Rhyne (44-6, 15-1) to a 4-0 record and its sixth league regular season title in 11 years. Atkins started the week with three hits and three RBI in a 9-3 win in game one of a doubleheader against Catawba, before driving in a pair of runs in each contest of a doubleheader sweep of Brevard Saturday at home. Atkins, a 2009 All-SAC First-Team honoree and last year's league Freshman of the Year, is currently batting .336 on the year with eight home runs and 46 runs batted in.

Huckestein, a junior pitcher from Port Charlotte, Fla. (Concordia Univ), factored heavily into Newberry's 3-1 week. She posted a 2-0 record and recorded a save, pitching 15 innings and allowing just one earned run for a 0.47 ERA. She surrendered just two walks and struck out 22 hitters on the week. After striking out the side in the top of the first inning in the Tusculum opener, Huckestein set the Newberry College record for strikeouts in a season. In that game, Huckestein also had the game-wining RBI.

Sarah Atkins	Amanda Huckestein