ST. LOUIS, Mo. – A pair of Drake University softball pitchers claimed Missouri Valley Conference Softball weekly awards, the conference office announced Monday, April 16. Redshirt junior Nicole Newman (Madison, Wis.) is the MVC Pitcher of the Week for a league-leading sixth time this season while freshman Nicole Timmons (Davenport, Iowa) is the MVC Newcomer of the Week.
 
Newman tossed her second career no-hitter Sunday in a 4-0 victory over Valparaiso. She allowed a walk with two outs in the seventh inning that ended her chance at her first career perfect game. Newman recorded a career-high 18 strikeouts, including striking out the first nine hitters of the game. It is her sixth double-digit strikeout game of the season and 25^th in her outstanding career.
 
Newman, who holds a 13-2 record this season, lowered her league-best earned run average to 0.54, which ranks second in the nation. She leads the NCAA in average strikeouts per seven innings at 12.6. Newman leads the MVC in opponent batting average at .125, ranks second in strikeouts with 162 and is third in wins. In her career, she has won MVC Pitcher of the Week 11 times.
 
Timmons pitched a complete game Sunday in a 2-1 win over Valparaiso in the second game of the doubleheader. She allowed one run on three hits with a career-high 12 strikeouts. It is her second career double-digit strikeout game. With the complete game win, Timmons improved to 10-4 on the season and lowered her ERA to 1.84, which ranks fourth in the league. In the MVC, she is fourth in strikeouts with 106. This is Timmons' second career MVC Newcomer of the Week award as she earned MVC Pitcher and Newcomer of the Week honors on Feb. 26.
 
Drake plays a midweek doubleheader at in-state rival UNI Tuesday afternoon. The games will be played inside the UNI Dome and first pitch of game one will be at 4 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+.