Krystal Lewallen earns GLVC honor again

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - Northern Kentucky University’s Krystal Lewallen has been named the Great Lakes Valley Conference’s Pitcher of the Week in softball.

Lewallen, a junior from Crestwood, Ky., posted a 3-0 record last week as NKU finished the regular season with a perfect 46-0 mark. She began the week by taking a perfect game into the seventh inning in a road game against Ashland before finishing the contest with a two-hitter in a 2-1 victory.

That win was NKU’s 41st straight triumph, which set an NCAA Division II record for consecutive victories.

Lewallen also fashioned back-to-back shutout performances on the road against Quincy (4-0) and Missouri-St. Louis (1-0) last weekend. In the Missouri-St. Louis game, she struck out 16 batters and scattered three singles.

For the week, Lewallen allowed just one run and eight hits in 21 innings on the mound as NKU earned the GLVC’s regular-season title and No. 1 seed in the upcoming GLVC Tournament.

For the season, Lewallen leads the GLVC in wins (24), strikeouts (240), and earned run average (0.34). She is also holding opposing hitters to a .106 batting average this season and has 15 shutouts.

This marks the fifth time this spring Lewallen has earned the GLVC weekly honor. Lewallen is NKU’s all-time career leader with 71 victories.

Top-seeded NKU will begin the double-elimination GLVC Tournament at East Peoria, Ill., this Friday against eighth-seeded Missouri-St. Louis at 11 a.m. The top-ranked Norse will enter the GLVC Tournament eyeing Arizona’s all-time collegiate mark of 47 consecutive wins from April 5, 1996 to March 23, 1997.

The Norse have never won the GLVC Tournament championship. A year ago, NKU lost to Lewis in the championship game at East Peoria, Ill.