Golden Flashes Sweep First MAC East Softball Weekly Awards of 2016
2/16/2016 6:20:00 PM | Softball
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Following a 5-0 start to the season, Kent State took both of this week's Mid-American Conference East Division awards. Senior Arika Roush was named Player of the Week and junior Ronnie Ladines was named Pitcher of the Week.
Roush began her senior season with the best weekend of her collegiate career, batting .533 while leading Kent State with eight hits, five RBIs, a .667 slugging percentage and a .650 on-base percentage. She reached safely in all five games and also led the Flashes with three multi-hit games and two multi-RBI games. Her best game of the weekend came against Michigan State on Saturday, going 3-for-3 and driving in a pair of runs with a bases-loaded single.
This is the second career Pitcher of the Week honor for Ladines. The junior from Arlington, Wash. posted a 3-0 record and added a save in four appearances. Ladines allowed just two runs for a 0.88 ERA and fanned 22 batters while allowing just two walks. She hurled a one-hit shutout with nine strikeouts in the season opener against Illinois-Chicago. Trailing Memphis, 3-2, later in the day, she retired the side in the seventh inning of a relief appearance and then delivered a walk-off single in the bottom of the inning. Ladines recorded a season-high 10 strikeouts in a complete game victory over Michigan State on Saturday and finished the weekend with three scoreless innings for a save against Florida Gulf Coast. At the plate, Ladines went 4-for-10 with 2 doubles and 4 RBIs.
Kent State completed their first unbeaten opening weekend since 2007. The Flashes hit .336 as a team and outscored their opponents 33-9.
The Flashes return to action this weekend with five games at the Upstate Invitational, which will have games played at both USC Upstate and Furman.
