Keola Calderon of Louisville earned C-USA Hitter of the Week accolades after posting two doubles and a grand slam last week. DePaul's Lindsay Chouinard captured her third C-USA Pitcher of the Week honor after leading DePaul to a three-game sweep over Southern Miss. Check out all the latest news in this week's softball notebook.



HITTER OF THE WEEK
KEOLA CALDERON, LOUISVILLE
Senior, UT, Orcutt, Calif.
Calderon batted .538 (7-for-13), notching two doubles, one home run and five RBI last week. She recorded her first career grand slam, leading the Cardinals to a 11-2 win over UAB. She had at least two hits in all three UAB games, while notching a team-high .923 slugging percentage and a .538 on base percentage. She currently is batting .326 on the season and .441 in C-USA play.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK
LINDSAY CHOUINARD, DEPAUL
Senior, LHP, Fresno, Calif.
Chouinard posted three shutouts to lead the Blue Demons to a three-game sweep over Southern Miss last weekend. In 14 innings pitched, she struck out 20 batters and gave up only five hits and no runs. She currently leads the team with a 16-3 record and a conference-leading 0.70 ERA.



NATIONAL POLLS
USA Today/NFCA Poll (April 1)
In the most recent USA TODAY/NFCA Poll, DePaul is ranked No. 10, while South Florida is No. 22. The Blue Demons were ranked No. 8 on Feb. 17, marking the highest ranking by a C-USA team since Southern Miss finished No. 6 in the final 2000 poll. Here’s a look at the entire poll:

1. UCLA (22)
2. Arizona
3. Washington
4. Oklahoma
5. Texas
6. Nebraska
7. California
8. Georgia
9. Cal State Fullerton
10. DE PAUL
11. LSU
12. Stanford
13. Arizona State
14. Michigan
15. South Carolina
16. Alabama
17. Florida State
18. Oklahoma State
19. Oregon
20. Texas A&M
21. Ohio State
22. SOUTH FLORIDA
23. Kansas
24. Florida
25. Louisiana-Lafayette


CHOUINARD EARNS ANOTHER HONOR
The Amateur Softball Association announced that DePaul’s LINDSAY CHOUINARD has been selected as USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Week for the week of March 10 -16. She was also chosen to be the Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I Player of the Week. At the Kia Klassic in Fullerton, Calif., Chouinard and her teammates won their pool after beating out national powers Fresno State, No. 3 Nebraska, and Notre Dame. Against Fresno State, Chouinard hit a home run in the seventh inning to win the game 3-2. In the Blue Demons' game against Notre Dame, she hit a three-run homer and a double to help beat the Fighting Irish 11-2. In three games, she hit 5-for-10 and hit two home runs and a double. She scored four runs and collected an outstanding nine RBIs. Chouinard was also a force on the mound at the tournament. In fourteen innings, she retired 10 batters and walked no one while allowing just two earned runs.


AROUND THE HORN

CHARLOTTE (13-21, 4-10 in 2003): AMY MORSE took a no-hitter into the fifth inning of the series finale against Houston before the Cougars rallied for a 3-2 win. On Saturday, the team split the doubleheader versus the Cougars. MELANE THEVENOTE was the big hitter for the Niners last week, batting .467 with seven hits, including a pair of home runs. This week, the team plays a doubleheader at Furman before heading to Hattiesburg for a three-game series with Southern Miss.

DE PAUL (24-4, 11-1 in 2003): The Blue Demons swept Southern Miss in a three-game series last weekend to lead the conference with an 11-1 mark. The Blue Demons notched a total of six home runs over the weekend. SASKIA ROBERSON recorded two home runs over the weekend and currently has a total of six on the season. LINDSAY CHOUINARD picked up two wins over the weekend, striking out 20 batters and giving up only five hits and no runs. This year, she has a team-leading 16-3 record and a 0.70 ERA. As a team, DePaul leads the league in ERA (1.02), earned runs allowed (25) and opposing batting average (.176).

EAST CAROLINA (17-22, 1-11 in 2003): The Pirates were swept by UAB last weekend. KATE MANUSE led the Pirates, going 3-for-9 in the series, with one double. She currently ranks second on the team with a .304 batting percentage. CHRISTINE SHERIDAN is the team’s leading hitter at .413 and also has a team-high 22 RBI. She leads the league with a .557 on-base percentage, thanks in part to a C-USA best 29 walks.

HOUSTON (26-17, 8-4 in 2003): The Cougars went 2-1 in a three-game series against Charlotte last weekend. JENILEE SKENDER led Houston, notching at least one hit in every game. She currently leads the team with a .344 batting percentage. MICHELLE WHIPPLE contributed two of Houston's three hits, including the game winner in Sunday’s game. She made her first C-USA start of the season on Saturday, where she tallied one hit and one RBI. KRISTEN GLOWACZ ranks first among her teammates with 11 doubles and 31 RBI. Pitcher JENNY JOHNSON completed her seventh game of the season, giving up only one run and striking out six in game two of the Niner series. She also served as closer on Sunday, pitching one inning to hold onto CRYSTAL BRISCOE ‘s 3-2 win. She has a 1.83 ERA and is 8-7.

LOUISVILLE (17-14, 8-3 in 2003): The Cardinals defeated Western Kentucky, 3-2 on Sunday. The second game of the doubleheader was cancelled due to inclement weather. KRYSTLE HEROLD picked up the win, striking out six and giving up only two runs. She finished last week with a 4-1 record and notched a 1.31 ERA. KEOLA CALDERON batted .538 on the week. She hit her first career grand slam against UAB and went 3-for-3 in that game. Calderon had at least two hits in all three UAB games and notched a .923 slugging percentage. She currently is batting .326 on the season and .441 in C-USA play.

SAINT LOUIS (11-10, 6-8 in 2003): The Billikens were swept by No. 22 South Florida last weekend. The third game of the series was cancelled due to inclement weather. NICOLE BOHNENSTIEL is closing in on the all-time Billiken runs batted in record. She has 63 RBI in her career and is just two away from the mark of 65 by Dawn Elser from 1986-89. Janet Venorsky sits in second with 64 RBI. Bohnenstiehl is also about to break the record for innings pitched in a Billiken uniform. She has thrown 473.1 innings and could surpass the 483 innings thrown by Mikki McPherson from 1990-93.


SOUTH FLORIDA (41-12, 11-3 in 2003): No. 22 South Florida swept Saint Louis in a doubleheader on Saturday. The third game of the series was cancelled, because of rain. LEIGH ANN ELLIS led the Bulls, posting a 2-1 record and a 2.16 ERA last week. She struck out 31 batters in less than two innings, and gave up only eight walks. SHELLY RIKER batted .538 (7-for13) for the week, scoring the winning run from first base in game two against Saint Louis. 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 (17-23, 3-9 in 2003): The Golden Eagles produced two come-from-behind victories last week. Southern Miss won the second game of the Arkansas doubleheader, 7-6, by collecting five runs in the final two innings. The Eagles followed that clutch victory with an 8-5 win over Mississippi State in the M&F Bank Fastpitch Classic, in Jackson, Miss., where they scored five runs in the top of the seventh, in front of 1,712 fans, which was the largest attended women's softball game in the state of Mississippi. Last weekend series against DePaul was another 0-3 loss, and the Blue Demons collected a three-game sweep in last season's matchup. ASHLEY DAVIS led all Southern Miss hitters last week, batting .312 with three doubles and two RBIs. Finishing nine-straight games on the road, the Golden Eagles will enjoy a four-game home swing and playing eight of their next 11 games at home.

UAB (21-20, 6-9 in 2003): The Blazers recorded their first three-game conference sweep of season over East Carolina last weekend. KELLI THOMPSON pitched 13 innings, giving up only one earned run and striking out 10 batters to pick up two wins. She also led the UAB bats, going 5-for-8 with two doubles and two RBI.

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.





BY THE NUMBERS
- South Florida’s LEIGH ANN ELLIS became the first C-USA pitcher to reach the 20-plus win plateau this season. She currently leads the league in wins (21), strikeouts (208) and appearances (35).

DID YOU KNOW?
DePaul’s LINDSEY CHOUINARD becomes only the second player in C-USA history to earn the Louisville Slugger/NFCA Player of the Week accolades. Southern Miss’ Courtney Blades (2000) earned this distinction three times during the 2000 season.