North Carolina Central University

SOFTBALL

     HAMPTON, VA -- The North Carolina Central University softball team accounted for three of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association's weekly softball honors for the week of April 4-10.
     NCCU senior third baseman Shenika Worthy was voted as the CIAA Player of the Week, sophomore pitcher Clarisse Steans was named CIAA Pitcher of the Week, and head coach Larry Keen was selected as the CIAA Coach of the Week.
     Worthy, a native of Decatur, Georgia, earned CIAA Player of the Week honors after averaging .652 at the plate with 15 hits in 23 at-bats in six games last week. She had six doubles, three triples and a home run to go along with 16 runs batted in and eight runs scored. Worthy is currently the team leader with a .528 batting average.
     Steans, a native of Macon, Georgia, was chosen as the CIAA Pitcher of the Week for the third time this season after posting a 6-0 record with an earned run average of 4.76 and holding opponents to a .259 batting average. She collected 29 strikeouts in 34 innings of work.
     After Saturday's (April 9) game one victory over Fayetteville State, Steans broke the school single-season and career records for pitching victories. She currently leads the CIAA with 19 wins this season, which raises her record career total to 34. Steans, who has thrown every pitch in NCCU's 213 innings this season, needs 10 strikeouts to break the school's single-season record in that category, which is held by current NCCU assistant coach Jennifer Jones, who struck out 157 batters in 2003.
     Keen, now in his fourth season as head coach of the Lady Eagles, was selected as the CIAA Coach of the Week for the third time this season after guiding his squad to a 6-0 record with doubleheader sweeps of Saint Augustine's, Fayetteville State and Bowie State. NCCU has won 17 of the last 18 games, including nine consecutive victories.
     NCCU is now 17-1 in the CIAA and 19-16 overall. The Lady Eagles finish up the regular season with road games against Winston-Salem State on Saturday (April 16) and Livingstone on Sunday (April 17). Both doubleheaders are slated for a 12 noon start.