Softball

Gierke, Steinman Earn NJAC Weekly Awards

PITMAN, N.J. (3/12/07) - Sophomores Meg Gierke (Glen Gardner, N.J.) and Sara Steinman (Springfield, N.J.) each earned New Jersey Athletic Conference weekly softball honors after leading Kean University to a 4-0 start at the Rebel Springs Games in Kissimmee, Fla.

Gierke was tabbed NJAC Pitcher of the Week after winning her first two starts of the season. She opened her sophomore season by allowing no runs and just two hits while striking out six in a 5-0 complete-game shutout of third-ranked Washington University (St. Louis). She wrapped up the week by allowing just four hits and one unearned run while striking out seven in six innings of work during Kean's 9-2 win over Franklin & Marshall. In her first two starts on the season, Gierke did not allow an earned run while striking out 13 opponent hitters.

In her Kean debut, Steinman earns NJAC Rookie of the Week honors after hitting .462 with four RBI and one run scored in four starts at second base. A transfer playing her first season of intercollegiate softball, she opened her career by going 2-for-4 in the Cougars' 6-1 win over Hendrix College, before going 2-for-4 with two RBI in Kean's 5-0 blanking of Washington. She then went 2-for-3 with an RBI in a 10-4 win over Manhattanville, before wrapping up the week with two walks, an RBI, and a run scored in the Cougars' 9-2 victory over Franklin & Marshall. Steinman has produced multiple-hit games in three-of-the-first-four collegiate games of her career.