ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Redshirt junior pitcher Nicole Newman (Madison, Wis.) the Drake University softball team has been named Missouri Valley Conference Softball Pitcher of the Week for a league-leading fourth time this season while junior infielder Taryn Pena (Columbia, Ill.) was tabbed the MVC Player of the Week for the first time in her career, the league office announced Monday, April 2.
 
Last week, Newman earned two of Drake's four wins as the team went 4-0, including a three-game sweep over Bradley and in-state midweek victory at Iowa. She pitched a complete game in the series opener versus Bradley where the Braves scored two unearned runs off her in a 10-2 five-inning victory. She allowed four hits with seven strikeouts and zero walks. Newman helped herself at the plate going 3-for-3 with one double, her first home run of the season and three RBI. Newman's solo home run ended the game early in the fifth inning. Newman followed that performance with five scoreless innings where she allowed one hit with nine strikeouts and two walks in the series finale win over Bradley.
 
Newman, who is 11-2 on the season, moved to third all-time in career strikeouts at Drake with an impressive 677. She is just three punchouts away from tying Brynne Dordel (2008-11) with 680. Newman leads the MVC in earned run average with an impressive 0.66 mark, ranks second in strikeouts with 122 and third in wins. In her career, she has won MVC Pitcher of the Week nine times.
 
Pena batted a team-high .545 (6-of-11) in the four wins. She had one stolen base, two doubles, two runs and six RBI while compiling a .667 on-base percentage and slugging .727. Pena, who is on a five-game hitting streak, started the week with a 1-for-3 performance at Iowa with one RBI. She followed by going 1-for-2 with one double and two RBI in the first win over Bradley. Pena then went 2-for-3 with two RBI in a 9-8 victory over Bradley, including driving in the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning as Drake erased a 7-3 deficit. She closed the Bradley series with another 2-for-3 performance and had one double and drove in one run.
 
In 32 starts this season, Pena is batting .295 with one home run, three stolen bases, seven doubles, 10 runs scored and 13 RBI.
 
Newman and Pena have helped Drake to a 25-9 overall record, including an 8-0 start to MVC play. Drake, which sits in first place in the MVC, will travel to Southern Illinois, April 7-8, for a three-game series. The series with the Salukis was originally scheduled to be played at Buel Field in Des Moines, but was moved to Carbondale, Ill. due to cold temperatures and inclement weather forecasted for this week in central Iowa.