Hannah Heacox
Release courtesy of Matt Higgins, MIAC Assistant Executive Director
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – The Gustavus softball team went 4-2 last week against tough competition, with three of the four wins coming courtesy of the pitching of Hannah Heacox (Stillwater, Minn.). The Gustie junior went 3-0 in four appearances with a 3.04 ERA and all three wins coming via complete games. She struck out 29 batters while allowing 10 runs on 16 hits and 12 walks in 23.0 innings pitched. For her performance the MIAC sports information directors honored Heacox Monday with the MIAC Softball Pitcher-of-the-Week award.
Heacox started her big week with a complete-game 7-4 win over defending MIAC champion Bethel. She struck out four while allowing four runs on eight hits and five walks to prevail in the showdown of the conference’s regular-season and Playoff champions. She then registered double-digit strikeouts in a pair of wins in Iowa over the weekend. Heacox struck out 11 in a complete-game, 6-4 win over Dubuque, and she had 12 Ks in a 6-2 complete-game win over Central. She also threw two scoreless innings of relief with two more punch outs. This season, Heacox is 7-1 with a 2.61 ERA. She is fourth in the MIAC in wins, third in strikeouts (72), and 11th in opponent batting average (.211).
Thanks to the 4-2 week, Gustavus improved to 10-6 overall, and the split with the Royals placed the Gusties in a group of six 1-1 teams after the first MIAC doubleheaders. This week, Heacox and company have a big week in the conference, starting with a 3:30 p.m. twin bill at Hamline on Wednesday. Saturday Gustavus hosts Augsburg for a MIAC doubleheader at 1 p.m. and Sunday they’ll play two at Saint Benedict starting at 1 p.m.