Feb. 20, 2012
ST. LOUIS -
For the second-straight week, an Illinois State softball player has earned Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week honors. After going 6-for-13 with three doubles, seven RBI and six runs scored, senior catcher Caiti Kopp earned the weekly award for the first time in her career, as announced by the league office Monday afternoon.
Kopp helped lead the Redbirds to three wins this week at the Littlewood Classic in Tempe, Ariz., recording multiple hits in three of ISU's five games. The Normal, Ill., native opened the weekend by going 2-for-3 with three runs scored and an RBI in a victory over Iowa State and followed it up by driving in four runs with a pair of doubles in a 2-for-4 performance against Iowa.
In Saturday's win over Central Michigan, she went 2-for-4 and drove in two more runs. Kopp also coaxed three walks and finished the weekend with a .563 on-base percentage in addition to throwing out a pair of would-be base stealers from her position behind home plate.
Kopp and the Redbirds return to the diamond Friday at 12 p.m. CST against Boston in Clearwater, Fla., to open the NFCA Leadoff Classic. ISU is slated to play six games during the three-day event, with games against three nationally-ranked opponents in Michigan, Tennessee and Georgia Tech.
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