LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Senior pitcher
Taylor Hochman and senior left fielder
Natalie Sullivan of the Saint Louis University softball team are included on the National Fastpitch Coaches Association's "Selected Top Performances" list for the week of April 14-20.
Hochman was recognized for a second time this season.
The duo helped lead Saint Louis to a 5-0 record last week. All five games were Atlantic 10 Conference contests, extending the Billikens' A-10 winning streak to 12 – a school record and tied for the longest active conference winning streak in NCAA Division I – and leading them to the top of the conference standings with six games remaining.
Hochman went 3-0 with two shutouts, a 0.67 ERA, a 1.00 WHIP, a .176 opponents' batting average and three complete games. She allowed just two runs and 12 hits in 21 innings.
The right-hander began the week by posting a 3-0 shutout vs. Rhode Island, allowing just six hits and two walks. She fired a two-hit shutout with a season-high seven strikeouts in game one of the George Mason series, a 7-0 win. Hochman finished the sweep of the Patriots in the series finale, tossing a four-hitter in a 3-2 Saint Louis victory.
Hochman leads the A-10 with a 2.22 ERA and six shutouts and is tied for the league lead with 13 victories.
Sullivan hit safely in all five games, including two multiple-hit games. She had two multiple-RBI games and two multiple-stolen base games and led the Billikens in batting average (8-for-16, .500), RBIs (seven), hits (eight), total bases (11), runs (six) and stolen bases (4-for-4). Sullivan was 3-for-4 with four RBIs, including a walk-off two-run home run in the eighth inning, in an 8-6 win over George Mason.
Sullivan is batting .338 with team highs in on-base percentage (.470), runs (41), triples (four), walks (31) and stolen bases (16). She also has three home runs, 25 RBIs and seven doubles.
Following a non-conference game at Lindenwood on Wednesday, April 23, Saint Louis plays its final A-10 home series of the season April 26-27 vs. St. Bonaventure. Saturday's doubleheader and Sunday's single game begin at noon, with Senior Day festivities following Sunday's game.
