Softball | 3/28/2016 3:10:00 PM
Moon Township, Pa. – For the second time in three weeks, freshman
Kaitlin Ellzy of the
Robert Morris University softball team took home a pair of awards from the Northeast Conference as announced by the league Monday afternoon.
Ellzy was named both NEC Co-Pitcher of the Week and NEC Rookie of the Week, earning recognition in the same two categories from the league as she did March 14.
With this announcement, Ellzy is the first player this season to be honored in the league's pitching category on more than one occasion.
Ellzy garnered her third win over a Big Ten opponent in the span of under two weeks when she helped RMU take down Penn State last Wednesday. She allowed just three hits and a lone run in a complete-game win over the Nittany Lions. An infield single and a grounder that squeaked through the infield gave Penn State an opening in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie or win, but Ellzy comfortably retired the next batter on the first pitch with a ground ball to secure the win. The three hits Penn State tallied against Ellzy are a season low by the Nittany Lions. Ellzy came on in relief in the second game of the doubleheader against Penn State and continued to perform well as she yielded one unearned run in 3.1 innings of work while striking out two. With Ellzy's help, RMU has defeated three distinct Big Ten programs within the same season for the first time in school history.
Ellzy leads the NEC in wins and is among the top five in in the conference in ERA, opponents' batting average and strikeouts. She has accumulated these numbers despite the Colonials having played by far the toughest schedule in the NEC thus far this year, according to the NCAA's strength of schedule ratings.
Ellzy becomes the fifth Colonial to earn NEC weekly pitching accolades at least twice in one season, joining a group that includes her current pitching coach
Erica List.
This is the fifth consecutive season in which Robert Morris has won at least two weekly pitching honors, tied for the longest active streak in the league.
Robert Morris will be back in action Tuesday, March 29, with a doubleheader at Youngstown State that can be watched on ESPN3.
