May 13, 2008

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Sophomore Lauren Delaney (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias) has been named both the Louisville Slugger/NFCA and USA Softball National Player of the Week after earning MVP honors at last weekend's Big Ten Tournament with three-consecutive shutouts to lead the Wildcats to the conference crown.

Delaney, the 2008 Big Ten Pitcher of the Year, threw 17.0 innings in her three complete-game shutouts, allowing just five hits and five walks while fanning 24. Only four times in those three games did a runner advance to scoring position against her. In the championship game against Iowa, she struck out nine and held the Hawkeyes to a pair of infield singles to make a fourth-inning Erin Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) home run stand up in a 1-0 victory for the Wildcats.

The national honors are the first for Delaney, and the mark the second time this year Northwestern has won a national Player of the Week nod after junior Tammy Williams (Roscoe, Mo./Osceola) earned the NFCA's award on Feb. 19. The last Wildcat to win the USA Softball honor was 2007 graduate Garland Cooper on April 3, 2006.

The last time a Wildcat won both honors simultaneously was April 29, 2003, after then freshman and current NU volunteer assistant coach Courtnay Foster also recorded three shutouts in the previous week.

To read the official releases on Delaney's awards, link to NFCA.org and USASoftball.com.