Marshall University Athletics
Nielson Named C-USA Hitter of the Week
3/25/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 25, 2008
IRVING, Texas - Marshall junior Kelly Nielson shared the Conference USA Hitter of the Week award for her impressive performance against UTEP, the conference office announced Monday.
The Tucson, Ariz., native garnered her first conference weekly accolade after guiding the Herd to a series win over UTEP. Nielson's clutch sixth inning grand slam put the Herd ahead of the Miners in the decisive third game. Trailing 4-3 with one-out, the power hitting shortstop recorded her first NCAA grand slam which gave the Herd its first lead of the contest. Marshall would go on to claim the third game and capture its second conference road series this season.
During the weekend, Nielson had five RBIs, a double and scored a run in all three games. After scoring the winning run in game one, Nielson's two-out RBI double in game two kept the Herd's comeback attempt afloat in the seventh inning.
Nielson shared the honor with Houston's Christa Raley who also had a grand slam in a 13-2 win over Southern Miss. Overall, Houston outscored Southern Miss 26-5. Raley finished the weekend going 5-for-10.
Nielson and the rest of the Herd will now have a pair of doubleheaders against two top ten teams. Marshall will square off with No. 1 Arizona State, Tuesday, March 25 at 8 p.m. (ET) and it will round out the road trip with No. 8 Arizona, Wednesday March 26 at 8 p.m. (ET).
