Peloquin '02 Again Named NESCAC Player of the Week
Sophomore hurler earns league honors for second time in three weeks

    AMHERST, Mass. - Sophomore Amherst College pitcher Lauren Peloquin (Berkley, MA) was named New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Softball Player of the Week on Monday for games through Sunday, April 9, after leading the Jeffs to a doubleheader sweep of Bowdoin College on Saturday. Peloquin also received the first NESCAC Player of the Week honors of the season two weeks ago, and Amherst Co-captain first baseman Darcy Sweeney (Keene, NH) was named Player of the Week last week, as the Jeffs have swept the award for three straight weeks for the first time in program history.

    Peloquin, who pitched every inning of her freshman season en route to a selection to the National Faspitch Coaches Association Third Team, has been dominant through the Jeffs' first 20 games of the 2000 season, brining a 10-2 record and four complete-game shutouts into Saturday's doubleheader with the Polar Bears. In game one, the sophomore surrendered only two hits, and only two other Bowdoin baserunners reached, as the Jeffs pulled out a dramatic 1-0 win in the bottom of the seventh inning on a walk-off RBI triple from junior second baseman Carline Kelly (S. Dartmouth, MA). Peloquin struck out four in the opener, surpassing the 100-strikeout mark for the season in only her 78th inning of work.
    After the Polar Bears took a 4-2 lead in the second inning of the nightcap, Peloquin came on in relief of rookie Emily Melia (Hingham, MA), and picked up right where she left off in the opener. In five innings of work, the sophomore struck out four, allowed no hits, and only two baserunners, with the Jeffs providing all the offense she would need with a six-run third inning, cruising to the 10-4 win.
    The 12 shutout innings dropped Peloquin's NESCAC-best ERA to 0.87, and the sophomore is also leading the league in innings (88.3) and strikeouts (107). Peloquin has allowed only 39 hits for the season, walked only eight, and opponents are hitting a NESCAC-worst .127 against her.

    Along with Peloquin, Sweeney is also near the top of the NESCAC leaderboards, with her .464 batting average good enough for second-best in the league. The senior has a NESCAC-best 32 hits, and has team-highs in extra-base hits (12), RBI (19), on-base percentage (.472) and slugging percentage (.681). Sweeney will put her seven-game hitting streak on the line tomorrow afternoon, when the 17-2-1 Jeffs are next in action in a rescheduled doubleheader against local rivals Smith College, a 3:30 p.m. start on Hills Field.