LEAGUE LEADERS

YSU’s Dowd named Player of the Week

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Oh the weather outside might be frightful, but it was a great day on Monday for softball players with Mahoning Valley ties.

Erin Gabriel, a senior for the University of Tennessee softball team, was named the SEC’s Pitcher of the Week.

Back home, Youngstown State University junior outfielder Sarah Dowd was named the Horizon League’s Player of the Week.

Last week, Gabriel posted a 2-1 record and a 0.97 ERA in three starts at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz.

She went the distance and recorded 10-plus strikeouts in all three of her appearances, totaling an SEC-best 34.

Gabriel threw a complete-game shutout in the season-opener against Creighton, allowing just three hits while striking out 13 batters.

She followed that up with an 11-strikeout performance against No. 22/20 Arizona State and capped off the week by striking out 10 batters in an 8-2 win over Northwestern.

Gabriel held the Wildcats to only four hits and two runs after they combined to score 37 runs in their previous two games.

This is the first SEC Pitcher of the Week award for Gabriel during her career at Tennessee. Last season, Gabriel threw two no-hitters including a perfect game.

In high school, she led the Bulldogs to three state appearance, winning the Division II state championship in 2011.

The Vindicator’s Female Athlete of the Year in 2010, 2011 and 2012, Gabriel has rebounded after suffering a labral tear on her left hip during her freshman season in Knoxville.

She will look to continue her hot start this weekend as the Vols travel to Clearwater, Fla., where they’ll play five games at the Michele Smith Pediatric Cancer Foundation Invitational.

YSU

Last week, Dowd led the Penguins to a 2-1 record during the season’s opening weekend with wins over Toledo, 4-3, and Massachusetts, 9-8.

Dowd batted .444 (4-for-9) with a triple, two home runs, six RBIs, a 1.333 slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .583.

Against Toledo, Dowd went 3-for-3 with a triple and a walk-off two-run home run the bottom of the seventh inning.

Dowd also hit a grand slam in the 9-8 win over Massachusetts. It marked Dowd’s third career grand slam and she is the only player in school history with more than one career grand slam.

She also has 20 career home runs and became just the fifth player in school history with at least 20 homers.

The Penguins are back in action against Lehigh on Feb. 26 at 11 a.m. at the UNC-Greensboro Tournament.