RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Ouachita Baptist’s Bailey Sanders (pictured left) and Southeastern Oklahoma State’s Audra Rhudy (pictured right) have been named the Great American Conference Softball Players of the Week for their performances in the fifth week of the 2012 season.

GAC SOFTBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Ouachita Baptist junior third baseman Bailey Sanders has been named the GAC Softball Player of the Week after batting .615 in a 3-1 series victory overNewman University this past Saturday and Sunday at home. The Joshua, Texas native went 8-for-13 at the plate throughout the weekend with seven runs batted in, three doubles, two runs scored and two walks. She had three multi-hit games in the four-game set against Newman, highlighted by a perfect 3-for-3 performance with one walk in a 5-4 win on Sunday. She added two hits and two RBI in a 4-3 win on Saturday. Sanders closed the week with a 2-for-4 outingwith three RBI in a 6-5 loss on Sunday. She becomes the second OBU hitter to be named GAC player of the week following teammate Megan Askew’s selection on February 14.

GAC SOFTBALL PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Southeastern Oklahoma State senior Audra Rhudy has been named the GAC Softball Pitcher of the Week after tossing two one-hit shutouts in a 2-2 series split with Southern Arkansas this past weekend in Magnolia, Ark. to start the conference portion of the 2012 schedule. The Ector, Texas native started her weekly campaign by recording a complete-game one-hit shutout with three strikeouts and only one walk in a 3-0 win for the Savage Storm on Saturday. She followed with back-to-back starts on Sunday, collecting her second consecutive one-hit shutout with two strikeouts and no walks in an 8-0 win in the firsthalf of the double-header, and ending with a six-inning outing with six hits and one run allowed with three strikeouts in a 1-0 loss in the second game.Rhudy becomes the first Southeastern student-athlete to earn a weekly softball honor from the GAC.

NOTABLE NOMINEES
1 – Katie Campbell, SR, SS, SE Oklahoma State (6-for-13, 3 RBI, 2 runs, 3 doubles in a 2-2 week)
1 – Johnna Smith, SR, SS, SW Oklahoma State (7-for-13, 2 RBI, 6 runs, 1 doubles, 1 triple in a 2-2 week)
1 – Victoria Huie, FR, P/DP, Arkansas Tech (7-for-11, 2 RBI, 1 run in a 1-3 week)
1 – Shelby Simmons, JR, SS, East Central (12-for-23, 8 runs, 1 double, 1 triple in a 4-2 week)
1 – Brittnie Dean, SO, 3B, Henderson State (5-for-10, 5 RBI, 2 runs, 1 double, 2 homeruns in a 3-1 week)
2 – Hanna Gill, FR, P, Southern Arkansas (3 app., 21 inn., 18 hits, 3 runs, 2 earned, 11 strikeouts, 3 walks in a 2-2 week)
2 – Katrina Johnson, JR, P, SW Oklahoma State (3 app., 15.1 inn., 19 hits, 7 runs, 6 strikeouts, 2 walks in a 2-2 week)
2 – Melissa Decker, SR, P, Henderson State (3 app., 16 inn., 16 hits, 7 runs, 3 earned, 9 strikeouts, 3 walks in a 3-1 week)
(1 – nominated for player of the week. 2 – nominated for pitcher of the week)