April 18, 2016

MVC Release

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Junior pitcher Erin Struemph capped her outstanding weekend by being named the Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week, the league office announced on Monday (April 18). It is the first weekly award for the St. Thomas, Mo., native since earning MVC Newcomer of the Week accolades twice in 2014.

Last weekend, Struemph stifled the Drake offense in a pair of complete game victories over the previously unbeaten Bulldogs in Des Moines. The junior hurler went 2-0 with a miniscule 0.39 earned run average in 18 innings pitched over three outings last week.

Struemph began her week with 4.0 innings of scoreless relief against Tulsa on Wednesday striking out two batters. Then on Saturday, she fired her fourth three-hitter of the Valley slate in shutting out Drake to hand the Bulldogs the first MVC loss of the season. She struck out nine in the win. Struemph returned to the circle on Sunday and again dealt a complete game gem with just five hits against in the series-clinching win. She recorded three strikeouts in the finale, including the final out of the game, to close to within one strikeout of fifth in school history.

For the week, Struemph held opponents to a miserly .148 batting average and allowed just 0.5 hits per inning with 14 strikeouts.

The Missouri State softball team (16-23, 5-8) returns to Killian Stadium for a midweek doubleheader against Wichita State (23-18, 9-5) beginning at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday. The Bears are back on the road in Iowa for a weekend series at UNI starting at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday.

#MSUBears