Wallace Selected as NWC Softball Player of the Week

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

SALEM, ORE. -- Nicole Wallace (So., C/2B, Roseville, CA/Roseville HS) of Willamette University has been selected as the Northwest Conference Softball Player of the Week for games played April 14-20, 2008. Wallace helped the Bearcats go 4-2 during the week to improve to 23-7 overall, 17-5 in the Northwest Conference.

Wallace hit .474 (9 of 19) as Willamette split a doubleheader with the University of Puget Sound on April 14 and won three out of four games against Whitworth University on April 19-20. She recorded at least one hit in five of the six games and had two hits four times. She scored at least one run in every game.

She blasted a home run in the second game against UPS and pounded out a double in the third game with Whitworth. During the week, she scored eight runs and recorded five RBIs. She was 3 for 3 on stolen bases and had 22 putouts and six assists on defense.

Willamette split a pair of eight-inning games in Tacoma, Wash., to open the week. The Bearcats rallied for a 4-3 win in the first game, but lost to the Loggers, 9-7, in the second game. WU was the home team in both contests, which were originally scheduled for March 15 in Salem, Ore., but were rained out.

The Bearcats opened the series against Whitworth with two wins on Saturday. WU took the opener, 17-3, on the run rule in five innings and won the second game, 6-4. On Sunday, Willamette pulled away with nine runs in the bottom of the fifth inning for a 14-4 win on the run rule. In the final game of the series, Whitworth claimed a 10-6 win.

Willamette will return to action this weekend with four games against defending NCAA Division III national champion Linfield College. WU will travel to McMinnville, Ore., on Saturday, April 26 to play the first two games, before returning to Salem, Ore., for the final two games on Sunday, April 27. Both doubleheaders will start at 12 p.m. (PDT).