ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) announced their Athlete of the Week award winners Tuesday in the sports of baseball, softball, and men’s and women’s golf. The awards are nominated by UMAC coaches and athletics communications staff and selected each week by the latter group.
BASEBALL ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Ben Meuser, Senior, Minnesota Morris Cougars
Burnsville, Minn. / Burnsville
- Meuser went 8-14 (.571) at the plate for the Cougars this weekend, earning two doubles, three home runs, six RBIs, four runs scored, and a stolen base.
BASEBALL PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Trent Ash, Sophomore, Bethany Lutheran Vikings
Springville, Utah / Springville
- Ash recorded a program-best 10th win of the season in dominant fashion Friday night, striking out 16 batters in a 2-0 victory over UW-Superior. The sophomore was in complete control, allowing just four hits over 8.1 innings of work. With the win, he becomes one of only two players in NCAA Division III with at least 10 wins and no losses this season.
SOFTBALL ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Peyton Bennett, Freshman, UW-Superior Yellowjackets
Harrisburg, S.D. / Harrisburg
- Bennett paced the Yellowjacket offense in last weekend's UMAC series with Bethany Lutheran. She hit .500 across the three-game series (4-8) which included a pair of homers, four runs scored and two RBIs. Bennett sits third on the Yellowjackets in average (.448), while leading in total hits (60), stolen bases (27) and doubles (13).
SOFTBALL PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Emily Meyer, Junior, Bethany Lutheran Vikings
Swea City, Iowa / North Union
- Meyer was stellar once again this weekend for the Vikings, earning a pair of complete-game victories to lock up the No. 1 seed in the UMAC Tournament. She opened the weekend with a shutout on Friday, striking out nine and allowing just five hits in a 2-0 win. On Saturday, she followed up with another strong performance, scattering five hits and allowing three runs while striking out six in a 4-3 game one victory. Meyer's 194 strikeouts this season are currently 4th most in all of NCAA Division III.
MEN'S GOLF ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Shane Seiffert, Junior, Northwestern Eagles
Corcoran, Minn. / Robbinsdale Armstrong
- Seiffert tied his career-low round of 69 (-3) in Thursday's dual with Augsburg by making 3 birdies and 15 pars. The junior's first-place effort also spearheaded UNW breaking the program record for team low round with a score of 287. The previous record of 289 was set in 2017.
WOMEN'S GOLF ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Paige Johnson, Sophomore, Northwestern Eagles
Zimmerman, Minn. / Homeschool
- In between a busy spring on the tennis court, Johnson stepped back onto the golf course on Thursday for a dual with Augsburg and tied for first place individually with a score of 80. The sophomore recorded 10 pars in her round and tied teammate Morgan Eckman in the Eagles' final tune-up before next week's NCAA DIII National Championship.
The UMAC is an NCAA Division III member comprised of eight full-time member schools from Minnesota and Wisconsin: Bethany Lutheran College, Crown College, Martin Luther College, North Central University, Northland College, University of Minnesota Morris, University of Northwestern, and University of Wisconsin-Superior.
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