ST LOUIS — Following a 5-1 week, UNI softball picked up a pair of weekly awards from the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). Samantha Heyer won MVC Pitcher of the Week and Alexis Pupillo won MVC Player of the Week, as announced by the league office on Tuesday afternoon.
Heyer and Pupillo are the first two Panthers to receive a weekly honor from the MVC in 2024, but neither are strangers to recognition from the conference. Heyer received MVC Pitcher of the Week six times last season, and Tuesday’s honor marks her seventh total pitcher of the week honor. Pupillo, meanwhile, won MVC Newcomer of the Week four times last year but Tuesday marks the first MVC Player of the Week honor of her collegiate career.
Heyer posted a 2-1 record in three appearances last week, highlighted by a 14-strikeout no-hitter last Wednesday against Memphis. The complete game no-hitter marked the first of the 2024 season for Heyer and her first since May 5, 2023. Heyer put together another 14-strikeout performance in UNI’s 5-3 victory against SEMO last Saturday, then closed the weekend with seven strikeouts in four innings of work last Sunday against then-No. 24 Auburn.
In last Sunday’s 1-0 loss against the Tigers, Heyer moved into second place on UNI softball’s career strikeout leaderboard. She now has 541 career strikeouts and only trails Jamie Fisher’s (2011-14) program-record mark of 767 strikeouts.
Pupillo, meanwhile, paced UNI’s offense all week long. She posted a .400 batting average across six contests, recording 21 total bases, 10 RBIs and four home runs. Pupillo kicked off the Auburn Plainsman Invite with an eight-RBI performance in the Panthers’ 9-8 victory against Longwood, which is tied for the third-highest single game total in Division I softball this season.
Additionally, Pupillo recorded both hits in the Panthers’ 4-2 upset of then-No. 24 Auburn last Saturday. Pupillo recorded a single in the fourth inning then blasted a solo home run in the top of the sixth inning. Pupillo also hit a home run in last Saturday’s victory against Southeast Missouri State.
Through last weekend’s action, Pupillo leads the MVC and ranks No. 12 nationally with six home runs.
The Panthers continue their non-conference road trip this week with six contests. UNI visits UAB on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. before playing four games at the T-Mobile Crimson Classic, hosted by Alabama.
