Scali Awarded National Pitcher of the Week by NFCA
4/23/2019 1:34:00 PM | Softball
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – For the second time this season, Kent State redshirt freshman pitcher Andrea Scali has received a national weekly award as the Louisville Slugger/NFCA (National Fastpitch Coaches Association) Pitcher of the week, the organization announced Tuesday (April 23). A Golden Flash has received national recognition in five straight seasons.
She threw her second no-hitter of the year and did not surrender a run in 22.2 innings of work this week while recording four wins. The Parma, Ohio native struck out 32 while only allowing eight hits and holding the opposition to a .107 batting average.
Scali began the week throwing a five-inning shutout in a 10-0 win at Pitt and only allowed two hits while striking out eight. A day later, she threw a seven-inning no-hitter against Robert Morris while striking out 11. She did not allow a fly ball hit to the outfield until the seventh inning and was one error away from a perfect game. It's the first time a MAC freshman pitcher has thrown two no-hitters in the same season since 2012. Earlier this season, she became the first Kent State freshman to throw a no-hitter since 2009.
In a conference weekend against Akron, she threw 10.2 innings over two games and allowed only six hits while striking out 13. She recorded two victories and one complete game shutout.
Scali is sixth in the country in shutouts (9), 10th in strikeouts per seven innings (9.7) and 14th in strikeouts (203). In addition to leading the MAC in shutouts and strikeouts, she also paces the conference in ERA (2.33) and hits allowed per seven innings (4.86).
She was named the USA Softball National Co-Player of the Week on February 26 when she took a no-hitter into the seventh inning against Conference USA leader North Texas and recorded two victories over #21 Baylor. She threw 18 total innings that week limited the opposition to a .136 batting average with a 0.78 ERA and 26 strikeouts to five walks while posting three total wins.
Kent State has garnered national attention for the fifth consecutive year. In 2015 current Flashes pitching coach Emma Johnson won the NFCA (National Fastpitch Coaches Association) Pitcher of the Week award throwing 22.1 innings that included three shutouts, a no-hitter, a one-hitter and a two-hitter. In 2016 and 2018 All-American Holly Speers was named the player of the week by both the NFCA and USA Softball. In 2016, she homered in five consecutive at bats and last year had 11 RBIs and a 2.333 slugging percentage in a single week. During the 2017 campaign pitcher Ronnie Ladines earned both awards. She earned the Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Pitcher of the Week throwing 12 innings of scoreless ball with a perfect game and a no-hitter. Later that season she won the USA Softball National Player of the Week award at the MAC Tournament. Ladines won four games inside the circle with a 1.06 ERA and 34 strikes while batting .529 (9-for-17) with two doubles, four home runs, seven RBI and a 1.353 slugging percentage.
Kent State hosts Saint Francis (Pa.) for a non-conference doubleheader on Wednesday, April 24 beginning at 2 p.m. Later in the week, the Golden Flashes travel to Buffalo for a three-game conference set against the Bulls.
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