By ISU Sports Information
ST. LOUIS – Leading the Redbirds to their fourth sweep of the season and a 5-0 week, Illinois State’s battery, Sarah Finck and Jordan de los Reyes, collected the MVC’s softball Pitcher and Player of the Week, respectively, the conference office announced Monday.
As Finck’s first career honor and de los Reyes’ second, these are the fifth and sixth conference honors for the Redbirds this season. Finck’s accolade is Illinois State’s first Pitcher of the Week award since 2014. The six weekly awards are the most for Illinois State since 2012. With the Redbirds’ three scholar athlete awards, Illinois State totals nine this season – the most total weekly awards since 2007.
Finck led the Redbirds in the circle, recording four wins and a save in the five games this week. The junior tossed 23.0 complete innings, giving up only five runs in three games. The Redbirds’ ace owns a 9-0 record in her last 11 appearances, closing out the remaining two games with scoreless innings. Following her 1.52 ERA week, Finck’s season average continues to drop, sitting ninth among active Valley pitchers this season. Finck also recorded 13 assists from the circle contributing to the team’s five wins.
De los Reyes made history last week by becoming career RBI record holder, not only for Illinois State but also for the Missouri Valley Conference. The senior eclipsed the 200 career hits milestone, with 206, ranking fourth all-time. De los Reyes posted one of her best weeks of the season, batting .692 with a 1.462 slugging percentage thanks to three home runs and a double. The East Moline native’s 10 RBIs this week ups her career total to 174. With two intentional walks against her last week, the senior continued to dominate at the plate, extending her hitting streak to six games including two three-hit games.
De los Reyes drove in five runs on two home run in Wednesday’s nightcap versus Bradley, including a two-out, three-RBI dinger for the career record. Her success continued into the weekend against Missouri State, going 4-for-8 with one home run and five RBIs. De los Reyes caught all five Redbird wins behind the plate, logging 14 outs and three assists with a perfect fielding percentage.
Bradley’s Kealia Wysocki was named the MVC’s Newcomer of the Week.
The Illinois State softball team returns to action on Tuesday to conclude the series with Bradley at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex at 4 p.m.
