ODAC Athletes of the Week | Baseball, Lacrosse, Softball, Tennis

ODAC Athletes of the Week | Baseball, Lacrosse, Softball, Tennis

FOREST, Va. --- Temperatures are rising outside and so are ODAC athletes' performances as evidenced by the strong crew of award winners and honor roll members for Week 30 of the 2022-23 academic year. Those earning ODAC Athlete of the Week awards for Monday, March 27, include (pictured top-bottom, left-right): Jacob Bell from Shenandoah baseball, Felix Bevc from Virginia Wesleyan men's tennis, Lauren Long from Washington and Lee women's tennis, Kyleigh Chickering from Roanoke women's lacrosse, Oliva Owens from Randolph-Macon softball, Avery Neaves from Lynchburg baseball, Gracie Ellis from R-MC softball, Tyler Hadley from LYN men's lacrosse, Raven Felder from Averett women's lacrosse, and Riley Mitchell from LYN men's lacrosse.

Below are entries for each of the winners from today's release. The schedule below will be used for reporting ODAC Athletes of the Week:

  • Mondays: baseball, lacrosse, softball, tennis
  • Tuesdays: outdoor track & field
  • Wednesdays: m/w golf

For more on ODAC athletics, visit the websites of any of the participating schools, or go to the ODAC's home on the Internet at www.odaconline.com.  Don't forget to become a fan of the ODAC on Facebook and follow @odacathletics on Twitter and Instagram.

BASEBALL PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Jacob Bell | Shenandoah | Sr. | Starter
Bell, a senior from Winchester, Va., picks up his second straight ODAC weekly pitching award after going the distance in nationally fifth-ranked Shenandoah's 4-1 triumph at Bridgewater College during a single-game conference mid-week matchup. Bell surrendered one run and scattered six hits in his second straight complete game of the season. He has spent 26.0 innings on the hill over his last three starts, giving up only one run on 15 hits during that stretch. Bellow fanned four Eagles on Wednesday and allowed just one free pass. He closed the game by retiring 10 consecutive batters. He registered eight ground ball outs and offered up 73 strikes among his 105 pitches. For the season, Bell is 3-0 in six total appearances including four starts covering 39.1 innings of work. He has allowed just three runs on 27 hits with 29 strikeouts. He owns the ODAC's best ERA at 0.69 with opponent's hitting just .200 against him.

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BASEBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Avery Neaves | Lynchburg | Sr. | Outfielder
Neaves, a senior from Reston, Va., picks up his first ODAC weekly award of the season after leading the nationally 12th-ranked Lynchburg to a trio of ODAC wins. Neaves slashed .615/.667/1.231 over the three outings and contributed to 21 of the Hornets 31 total runs scored. He opened with a 3-for-5 showing in an 11-8 victory over Virginia Wesleyan in a single mid-week conference game. He legged out a triple and drove in five runs while scoring twice and stealing a pair of bases. Neaves began a double-header road sweep of Washington and Lee with a 2-for-3 outing in a 6-4 triumph in game one. He walked once, drove in a pair and scored a run while again swiping two bases. In the latter part of the twinbill, Neaves drove in runs on four different at bats to post seven RBI in a 14-3 triumph. He posted a RBI single and plated a second with a fielder's choice. He capped this three-hit day with a pair of homers to left -- a two-run blast in the sixth and a three-run bomb in the seventh. The reigning ODAC Player of the Year and All-American has now left the yard 30 times in two-plus seasons with 161 RBI. This year, Neaves is slashing .382/.516/.632 with four homers and 27 RBI.

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MEN'S LACROSSE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Tyler Hadley | Lynchburg | Sr. | Goalkeeper
Hadley, a senior from Summit, N.J., turned in a strong outing in a top-10 matchup as nationally 13th-ranked Lynchburg held on and posted a 14-13 victory in overtime over #6 Washington and Lee on Saturday. Hadley matched his career-high 22 saves on a 62.9 save percentage in 61:15 in goal. He stood tall in the first half, making eight saves on 12 shots on-frame. He came up with 14 saves in the second half as W&L turned up pressure, firing 37 total shots with 23 on-cage over the second 30 minutes of regulation. On the season, Hadley, who added a ground ball to his line against the Generals, improved upon his ODAC-leading totals in saves (133) and save percentage (59.4%). Goals against average stands at 11.56.

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MEN'S LACROSSE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Riley Mitchell | Lynchburg | Sr. | Midfielder
Mitchell, a senior from Owings Mills, Md., picked the right time to notch a career-high for points as he came up in the clutch twice to help nationally 13th-ranked Lynchburg post a 14-13 victory in overtime at #6 Washington and Lee, marking the program's first road win at W&L since 2015. Mitchell scored both the overtime forcing goal with 0:08 remaining on the clock in regulation and game-winning goal 1:15 into extra time to cap the Hornets first and only overtime possession. Both goals were assisted by Jake Rust. Mitchell finished with a career-best seven points overall on three goals and four assists with one ground ball. For the season, Mitchell has registered 30 points on 17 goals and 13 assists.

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MEN'S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Felix Bevc | Virginia Wesleyan | Jr. | #1 Singles | #1 Doubles
Bevc, a junior from Frankfurt am Main, Germany, put together a strong week in top-flight singles and doubles action as Virginia Wesleyan went 2-1 as a team against strong competition. Bevc was joined by Alen Curovic in a three doubles outings against Rhodes College, Roanoke College, and University of Lynchburg. The Marlins pair posted an 8-5 win over Christian Mainella and Daniel Trudell against Rhodes. Bevc added a 6-4, 6-2 win over Trudell in singles play to account for VWU's second point in a 7-2 setback to the Lynx. Bevc and Curovic downed Roanoke's Federico Maccari and Julio Marques to help the Marlins to a 9-0 victory over the Maroons. Against Lynchburg, Virginia Wesleyan's top pairing defeated Lauren Muhlhaus and Levi Vigdorchik, 8-3. Bevc added a 6-4, 6-2 triumph over Vigdorchik in singles action on the way to a 5-4 team triumph.

Click to learn more about the past week in ODAC MEN'S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
SOFTBALL PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Gracie Ellis | Randolph-Macon | So. | Pitcher
Ellis, a sophomore from New Kent, Va., picks up her first ODAC weekly honor of the season after going the distance in three outings with two shutouts last week, leading nationally 10th-ranked Randolph-Macon to a trio of victories. Ellis opened with a three-hit shutout in a 5-0 win over Southern Virginia in game one of a sweep (6-1) of the Knights. She did not walk a batter and fanned seven over 7.0 frames. She would have retired the last 10 batters she faced if not for an error on a swinging strikeout for the would-be final out. She induced a ground out on the next batter to end the contest. Ellis tossed a second seven-inning outing in a 4-1 ODAC triumph over Shenandoah in game one of a sweep (10-3). She kept the Hornets off the board for six-plus innings before allowing a run in the seventh. She surrendered three hits and did not walk a batter while registering a season-best 12 strikeouts, her fourth game of 10 or more punchouts this season. She struck out the side in the third inning. Ellis capped her week with an 8-0 shutout in six innings over Gettysburg, the first of two games in a third sweep (8-2) for R-MC on the week. Ellis gave up four hits and walked a batter to go with six strikeouts. For the season, Ellis is 6-2 in eight appearances including six starts covering 49.1 innings of work. She has allowed just 30 hits and fanned an ODAC-best 70 batters. She owns a 1.99 ERA with opponents hitting an ODAC second-low .171 against her.

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SOFTBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Olivia Owens | Randolph-Macon | Jr. | 2nd Base
Owens, a junior from Salisbury, Md., made a habit out of reaching base with a hit in all six victories for nationally 10th-ranked Randolph-Macon last week including four multi-hit efforts. Owens hit .632 (12-for-19) with a .682 on-base percentage and generated 10 runs to help the Yellow Jackets improve to 14-4 on the year with three series sweeps. Owens went 3-for-6 with a walk, a run scored, and a stolen base in a week opening sweep (5-0, 6-1) over Southern Virginia University. She again went 3-for-6 in two ODAC wins (4-1, 10-3) over Shenandoah with a RBI in game one. In R-MC's 8-0 and 8-2 sweep of Gettysburg College, Owens went 6-for-7 overall with a pair of three hit games. She doubled and drove in five runs overall in game one. In game two, the Yellow Jackets second baseman scored twice and plated a run while adding a walk and two stolen bases. For the season, Owens leads the ODAC in batting (.490) and is third in OBP (.509). She is 25-for-51 on the year with 12 RBI and .549 SLG.

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WOMEN'S LACROSSE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Kyleigh Chickering | Roanoke | Jr. | Goalkeeper
Chickering, a junior from Naples, Fla., collects her first ODAC weekly award of the season after helping the nationally 19th-ranked Maroons open ODAC play with a key road victory at Shenandoah University, which is receiving votes towards the latest IWLCA top-25 poll. Chickering made 12 saves in Roanoke's 14-12 victory, posting a 50.0 save percentage against 30 total shots including 24 on-cage. Five of her stops came in the second quarter when Roanoke out-scored SU, 5-1, to carry an 8-5 advantage into the intermission. Chickering came up with two saves on Hornet free-position shots, limiting SU to 2-for-5 on those attempts. She also added four ground balls to her effort. For the season, Chickering leads the OdAC in goals against average (7.41) and save percentage (51.9%). She has made 55 saves and been in front of RC's goal for all seven victories (7-1).

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WOMEN'S LACROSSE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Raven Felder | Averett | Sr. | Attack/Midfield
Felder, a senior from Bowie, Md., posted an 11-point week to earn her first ODAC weekly honor and help Averett University improve its season-best start with two more victories to move to 6-0 on the year. Felder registered a career-high with eight goals as the Cougars downed previously unbeaten College of Wooster, 14-13 in overtime. Felder came up in the clutch as she beat the keeper with just 0:13 to play in regulation to force overtime. She scored her eight goals on just 12 shots with 11 on-cage. She added one ground ball to her line. Felder registered her second multi-goal game of the week to help AU open ODAC play with a 16-11 win over Virginia Wesleyan. She scored two of her three goals in the first half, helped Averett build on their advantage with another tally in the third quarter. She added a ground ball to her stat line. For the season, Felder has collected 27 points on 22 goals and five assists. She is fourth in the ODAC with goals on 9-of-12 free position shots.

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WOMEN'S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Lauren Long | Washington and Lee | Fy. | #1 Singles | #1 Doubles
Long, a first-year from Carmel, Ind., went 4-0 in top-flight singles and doubles action as she helped nationally 22nd-ranked Washington and Lee to a pair of team victories to improve the Generals season record to 7-4 in all dual matchups and 4-0 in league play. Long played doubles with two different partners. She paired with Margaret Carlton in W&Ls 7-2 win over Bridgewater. The duo won 8-0 over Emma Nesselrodt and Ryan Roeber. Long added a second point with a 6-1, 6-0 triumph over Nesselrodt in singles action. Long was joined by Gabi Moss at #1 doubles in the Generals 8-1 team victory over Franklin & Marshall College. The tandem topped Cassidy Landau and Mackenzie Sherman, 8-3, with Long trouncing Landau, 6-1, 6-1, in singles action. Long is now 9-3 overall this year including 7-2 from the #1 position. She is 11-8 overall in doubles matches.

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