South Florida's Carmela Liwag earned Hitter of the Week honors after leading the Bulls to wins over Jacksonville and Houston last week. Nicole Bohnenstiehl of Saint Louis posted three shutouts, including a 3-0 win over No. 9 DePaul to claim her second consecutive Pitcher of the Week accolade; Catch up on all the latest C-USA softball news in this week's C-USA Notebook.

HITTER OF THE WEEK
CARMELA LIWAG, SOUTH FLORIDA
Sophomore, 1B, Largo, Fla.
Liwag helped the Bulls sweep Jacksonville and Houston last week by batting .545 (6-for-11), notching six runs and seven RBI. She also recorded her sixth home run of the season against Jacksonville and currently ranks second on the team with a total of five this year.


PITCHER OF THE WEEK
NICOLE BOHNENSTIEHL, SAINT LOUIS
Senior, RHP, Lebanon, Ill.
Bohnenstiehl posted three shutouts and a 0.22 ERA in five appearances last week. In 31 innings pitched, she struck out 31 batters, while giving up only one earned run and walking four batters. The Billikens' win over No. 9 DePaul on Wednesday was the program's first victory over a ranked team. Bohnenstiehl also set a school record with her 14th career shutout and notched the 500th strikeout of her career on Sunday.

AROUND THE HORN

CHARLOTTE (12-17, 3-8 in 2003): The 49ers began the week with their doubleheader at Virginia Tech rained out. The team then made their way to Tampa for a three-game series at No. 23 South Florida, where they dropped all three to the Bulls. DENISE ATMAR now leads the team with a .308 batting average. KRISTY CONSTANTINO and LINDSAY FLEMMING each had a pair of hits in the 49ers' series finale at USF. This week the team is scheduled to play a doubleheader at UNC Greensboro on Thursday before hosting a three-game series against Houston this weekend.

DE PAUL (21-4, 8-1 in 2003): The Blue Demons swept Houston, holding the Cougars to only one run for the weekend. In Sunday's game. LINDSAY CHOUINARD picked up her 12th win of the season, only allowing two hits and no runs. She currently leads the conference with a 0.61 ERA. SASKIA ROBERSON went 5-for-19 with three RBI, two doubles and one home run last week. She currently is tied for seventh place in the conference stats with four home runs. As a team, DePaul leads the league in ERA (1.02), earned runs allowed (25) and opposing batting average (.176).

EAST CAROLINA (17-17, 1-8 in 2003): The Pirates suffered two losses at the UNC Classic in Chapel Hill, N.C. last weekend. East Carolina fell to North Carolina, 7-0 and Virginia, 5-2. The Pirates' LACASSA HILL and KRISTI JESSUP earned all-tournament honors. Hill finished with a hit and one stolen base, while Jessup threw one runner out against the Tar Heels and had one single for the Pirates. Sheridan is the team's leading hitter at .402 and also has a team-high 22 RBI. She leads the league with a .548 on-base percentage, thanks in part to a C-USA best 27 walks.

HOUSTON (24-16, 6-3 in 2003): The Cougars were swept by No. 9 DePaul at home last weekend. JENILEE SKENDER led Houston, batting .500 for the weekend with one double and four RBI. JAMIE FALCO faced 33 DePaul batters and did not walk one. She finished the weekend allowing only two hits and striking out three. Falco leads the Cougars with a 1.03 ERA and a 10-6 record. Freshman pitcher BROOKE JOHNSON pitched a no-hitter (five innings) against Alabama A&M in her first career start. This season, she has struck out eight batters and only given up one run and five walks.

LOUISVILLE (14-13, 6-2 in 2003): The Cardinals claimed two victories in a three-game series against Southern Miss last weekend. Louisville had won just once in 12 previous meetings with southern Miss before recording the back-to-back shutout wins on Saturday and Sunday. MICHELLE VASQUEZ batted .417 (5-for-12) for the week with two doubles and two RBI. KRYSTLE HEROLD went 3-0 last week, giving up only one earned run in 21 innings pitched for a 0.33 ERA. She struck out 14, while issuing only one walk. Herold notched two shutouts, both against Southern Miss in three complete games. This season, she has held her opponents to a conference-low .153 batting percentage.

SAINT LOUIS (9-8, 6-6 in 2003): Saint Louis followed its victory over DePaul with two wins against UAB last weekend. The Billikens were 0-10 all-time against nationally-ranked opponents until defeating No. 9 DePaul last Wednesday. The Blue Demons were also the highest ranked team SLU has ever played. SLU has already set a record for most Conference USA wins with six. The Billikens won five C-USA games the last two years. The last four Billiken wins have all come by shutout - 1-0 and 3-0 over UAB, 1-0 against DePaul and 5-0 at Charlotte. NICOLE BOHNENSTIEHL hit her 11th career home run, breaking the previous mark of 10 set by Meredith Henry from 1998-2001. Bohnenstiehl faced 112 batters and went 29 1-/3 innings between walks. She walked a hitter in the fourth inning against Austin Peay and did not surrender a free pass until the fourth inning of game three against DePaul. In the final UAB game, Bohnenstiehl tallied the 500th strikeout of her career. Freshman ASHLEE HEADY had a seven-game hitting streak, the longest by a Billiken this season, end in the finale against DePaul.


SOUTH FLORIDA (39-10, 9-3 in 2003): South Florida swept Charlotte in a three-game series last weekend. The Bulls have now won six consecutive and nine of their last 10 games. CARMELA LIWAG led South Florida, batting .545 for the week with a 1.000 slugging percentage. She hit her sixth home run of the season against Jacksonville. She also notched seven RBI and six runs scored. She currently leads the conference in RBI (39) and triples (3). LEIGH ANN ELLIS recorded a 0.64 ERA, allowing only seven hits in 22 innings pitched. She leads C-USA with a total of 208 strikeouts. South Florida leads C-USA in batting (.306), runs scored (247), runs batted in (218), hits (393), total bases (541), doubles (60) and triples (11).

SOUTHERN MISS (15-19, 3-6 in 2003): The Golden Eagles went 1-2 against Louisville last weekend. It was the first time the Cardinals claimed a C-USA series against Southern Miss. JESSICA HOLAWAY produced her third win in consecutive starts, as well as her fifth shutout of the season in the first game against Louisville. AMANDA BROWN batted .556 (5-for-9) against the Cardinals, with two doubles, a triple and two RBI. Southern Miss remains on the road for its next six games, starting with a doubleheader at Arkansas on Tuesday, April 1. The Golden Eagles face Mississippi State in the F&M Fastpitch Classic in Madison, Miss., on Thursday and then travel to DePaul for a C-USA series, beginning on Saturday.

UAB (17-18, 2-7 in 2003): The Blazers went 1-2 against Saint Louis last weekend. SARA CHRISTOPHEL, who went 3-for-8 in the SLU series, leads the Blazers with a .304 batting percentage. In game two of Saturday's doubleheader, KELLI THOMPSON held the Billikens scoreless in four innings and threw a two-hitter, bringing her season record to 7-6. She struck out four and gave up no walks. On the season, Thompson has a 1.80 ERA and 69 strikeouts.

2003 C-USA TOURNAMENT
The 2003 Conference USA Softball Tournament is scheduled for May 8-10 in Houston, Texas. The University of Houston will serve as the host institution for the event with all games being played at the Houston Softball Stadium.

The top six finishers in the regular season standings will compete in the double-elimination tournament, with the champion receiving the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship. The championship game on May 10 will be televised by affiliates of the Conference USA Television Network.