PEORIA, Ill. ? Bradley swept the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week and Pitcher of the Week honors announced by the league office Monday afternoon, as senior outfielder Christine Cooney was named MVC Player of the Week for the first time in her career and sophomore hurler Ashley Birdsong took home MVC Pitcher of the Week honors for the second time this season.
Cooney is the first Brave to earn MVC Player of the Week honors since Rachel Gensch on April 2, 2002 and Birdsong joined Beth Hawkins (five-time selection) and Sharon Kempf (two-time pick) as the only players in program history to earn MVC Player or Pitcher of Week honors twice in a career. It also marked just the second time Bradley had players earn both honors in the same week, with the only other occurrence in March 1993 when Kim Meils was named Player of the Week and Doris Hayes earned MVC Pitcher of the Week.
Cooney hit .500 for the week, going 7-for-14 with three triples, one homer, six runs scored and six RBI. She owned a 1.143 slugging percentage and .650 on base percentage, drawing three walks and she was also hit by pitches three times last week. Cooney drove in a run in the top of the ninth inning with a triple in the Braves win at Illinois-Chicago and scored a pair of runs in the nightcap.
She followed that with a 5-for-8 performance in Bradley's three-game sweep of Drake, helping the Braves to a 6-1 record. Against Drake, Cooney hit her first career home, scored four runs and also drove in four runs. Her previous career best for RBI in a season was six, which she matched during last week's action with her six RBI, and she tied her own school record for hit by pitch in a season with five this year.
Birdsong picked up her second MVC Pitcher of the Week award of the season after going 5-0 with a 2.04 ERA in seven appearances last week. She pitched her sixth complete game shutout against Butler and also tossed one and two-third innings of scoreless relief in the second game of a doubleheader against the Bulldogs.
She followed that with a 12-strikeout performance in a nine-inning victory at Illinois-Chicago and pitched four innings in relief in the second game against the Flames, giving up two runs (one earned) as she had a streak of 37 consecutive innings without an earned run snapped. Birdsong capped the week off with a pair of victories in the series against Drake. She struck out 42 batters in 37.2 innings of work for the week, while giving up five walks.
Bradley returns to action Friday, at I-74 rival and 17th-ranked Illinois State in the opener of a three-game series. The Braves and Redbirds will play a single game at 5 p.m. on Friday and a noon doubleheader on Saturday.
