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Illinois State University Athletics

Birk Named MVC Pitcher of the Week, ISU Claims Back-to-Back Honors

March 13, 2007

NORMAL, Ill. - Picking up the fifth such honor of her career, Illinois State softball pitcher Stacy Birk has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week, the league office announced Monday. The No. 18 Redbirds collected the same award last week with fellow senior pitcher Shannon Nicholson earning the award.

Birk earned the honor twice last season and made Valley history when she was the first player to ever sweep Player and Pitcher of the Week accolades for the week of March 4, 2006. Illinois State head coach Melinda Fischer is proud of the way Birk has responded in both the offensive and defensive lineups.

"I'm really happy for Stacy. She is starting to come into her own as a pitcher," said Fischer. "She pitched well against UCLA a couple weeks ago but then struggled a bit. Stacy rebounded very well for us in this tournament. Her pitch selection was better and she was able to get great results in the circle. Offensively, she is very important to what we are trying to do. Stacy wasn't batting for us for a few games but we felt it was time to get her bat going again and she responded very well. She had confidence at the plate this weekend and had some really good at bats."

In the circle for ISU, Birk didn't allow a single run on the weekend, going 2-0 in three appearances and tabbing a 0.00 ERA. Both of Birk's wins were shutouts as ISU outscored its opponents, 22-0, in decisions over IUPUI and Belmont. She scattered just seven hits in 11.2 innings of work and didn't walk a single batter, while recording 16 strikeouts.

Birk batted in all four games this weekend, entering the lineup in the designated player role in the games she didn't pitch. Tallying a batting average of .556, Birk went 5-for-9 on the weekend, with a triple and a homerun in ISU's 11-0 rout of Belmont on Sunday. The Huntington Beach, Calif., native, amassed six RBI and 10 total bases, boasting a weekend slugging percentage of 1.111.

Birk will lead the Redbird charge against Loyola-Chicago on Wednesday, March 14 when Illinois State hosts the Ramblers in a doubleheader at Redbird Softball Complex in the first pair of games in a seven-game homestand.

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