ELMHURST, Ill.--Southern Utah's Mikkel Griffin, Western Illinois' Sammy Marshall and North Dakota State's Krista Menke were named The Summit League's Softball Players and Pitcher of the Week for their performances March 26 - April 1. Menke earned Pitcher of the Week honors for the fourth straight week.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Krista Menke, North Dakota State
Fr., RHP
Friend, Neb./Friend
Menke captures her fourth career Pitcher of the Week award and record fourth consecutive this season after posting a 2-0 record with two complete-game victories and a season-high 11 strikeouts.  The freshman pitcher opened the weekend with her seventh shutout of the season in a 3-0 win over IPFW, fanning 11 batters.  In the series finale, she recorded a 2-1 extra inning victory over the Mastodons striking out five.  On the week, Menke tallied 17 strikeouts, while yielding 10 hits, three walks and two earned runs in 16.1 innings of work for a 0.86 ERA.  The right-handed hurler remains undefeated (7-0) in league play and is tied for the third-most Pitcher of the Week honors in a single season.

Also nominated: Courtney Cronin, IPFW; Jocelyn Oppenhuis, IUPUI; Deanna Friese, UMKC; Abbie Richardson, Oakland; Missy Blackburn, South Dakota; Pam Nicholson, South Dakota State; Danielle Axe, Southern Utah; Hailey Bickford, Western Illinois.

Previous winners: Feb. 13 - Whitney Johnson, North Dakota State; Feb. 20 - Deanna Friese, UMKC; Feb. 27 - Cinda Ramos, UMKC; March 4 - Heather Black, Southern Utah; March 12 - Courtney Cronin, IPFW & Krista Menke, North Dakota State; March 19 - Krista Menke, North Dakota State; March 26 - Krista Menke, North Dakota State.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Mikkel Griffin, Southern Utah
Jr., OF
St. George, Utah/College of Southern Idaho
Griffin garners her third career Player of the Week honor of the season after helping the Thunderbirds go 4-1 on the week with three multi-hit games, including three home runs in the UMKC series finale.  The junior outfielder opened the week with back-to-back multi-hit games in a doubleheader sweep of UNLV, going 2-for-4 in game one and 2-for-3 in game two.  To end the week, she went a perfect 4-for-4 against UMKC with three homers, six RBI and three runs scored.  For the week, Griffin hit .471 (8-for-17) with a 1.059 slugging percentage, seven RBI, five runs scored, three home runs and a double.

Sammy Marshall, Western Illinois
Fr., IF
Naperville, Ill./Naperville North
Marshall earns her third career Player of the Week award after helping the Fighting Leathernecks go undefeated (4-0) on the week and setting the Western Illinois and Summit League records for steals in season (44).  In the 5-4 win over Bradley, the freshman infielder recorded a double and two runs.  In the final two games of the week against Oakland she posted back-to-back multi-steal games.  The Naperville, Ill., native went 3-for-4 with three stolen bases, two runs and a RBI in game two against OU and 2-for-3 with three stolen bases, two runs and a RBI in game three.  On the week, Marshall posted a .500 batting average (6-for-12) with six runs, six stolen bases, two RBI and a double.

Also nominated: Dani Pugh, IPFW; Emily Ott, UMKC; Jamie Gay, North Dakota State; Erika Polidori, Oakland; Lindsay Boyd, South Dakota; Kelly Kleppin, South Dakota State.

Previous winners: Feb. 13 - Sammy Marshall, Western Illinois; Feb. 20 - Amanda Grable, North Dakota State; Feb. 27 - Mikkel Griffin, Southern Utah; March 4 - Courtney Cronin, IPFW; March 12 - Mikkel Griffin, Southern Utah; March 19 - Tessa Loewen, Southern Utah & Sammy Marshall, Western Illinois; March 26 - Jamie Goss, Western Illinois.