RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – East Central’s Emily Kennemer (pictured left) and Arkansas Tech’s Rachel Keeton (pictured right) have been named the Great American Conference Softball Players of the Week for their performances in the fourth week of the 2012 season.

GAC SOFTBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
East Central senior first baseman Emily Kennemer has been named the GAC Softball Player of the Week for the second time this season after batting .786 in a 1-3 week for the Lady Tigers (5-6, 1-3 GAC) against Southeastern Oklahoma State to open conference play. The Mesquite, Texas native went 11-for-14 at the plate against the Savage Storm with three runs batted in, five runs scored, three doubles, one triple and two homeruns. Her weekly slugging percentage was 1.571, while her on-base percentage was .800 after adding one base on balls to her offensive totals. Kennemer had at least two hits in all four games over the weekend, led by a perfect 4-for-4 game with one double, one homerun, two RBI and two runs scored in an 8-4 loss on Saturday. She added a 3-for-3 game with another homerun and double in an 8-7 loss during Sunday’s first game against Southeastern.

GAC SOFTBALL PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Arkansas Tech junior Rachel Keeton has been named the GAC Softball Pitcher of the Week after recording three wins in the circle over the past week, including two victories over Southern Arkansas in the first conference series of the 2012 season. The Florence, Ala. native tossed a weekly total of 23 innings, gave up 21 hits, allowed nine runs (7 earned), walked nine and struck out 12. She had a weekly 2.13 earned run average and .241 opponent batting average. After a shaky start in a 9-6 victory over Missouri Southern State this past Tuesday, Keeton helped the Golden Suns (7-5, 3-1 GAC) go 3-1 against Southern Arkansas over the weekend. She had a complete-game, 10-inning victory over SAU on Saturday, allowing five hits and one two runs (one earned) in ATU’s 3-2 extra-inning win. On Sunday, Keeton picked up another complete-game victory over SAU, this time allowing six hits and one run while striking out four and walking none in a 5-1 victory.  

NOTABLE NOMINEES
1 – Hayley Hudson, SO, 3B/1B, Arkansas Tech (8-for-19, 4 RBI, 6 runs, 3 doubles, 1 triple in a 5-1 week)
1 – Katie Campbell, SR, SS, SE Oklahoma State (10-for-14, 3 RBI, 7 runs, 3 doubles in a 3-1 week)
1 – Maggie Sands, JR, OF, Arkansas-Monticello (15-for-29, 9 RBI, 9 runs, 1 double, 1 triple, 5 walks in a 6-3 week)
(1 – nominated for player of the week. 2 – nominated for pitcher of the week. Only highlights shown for notable nominees.)