ST. LOUIS – Nicole Newman (Madison, Wis.) of the Drake University softball team is the Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week for the seventh-straight week, the MVC office announced Monday, April 29. Newman and her teammates clinched its second-straight MVC Regular Season championship with Sunday's win over Missouri State.
 
Last week in four appearances with three starts, Newman went 3-0 with a 0.72 earned run average with 35 strikeouts and just two walks. In her first two starts, she threw back-to-back no-hitters with the first in a 1-0 game win at UNI where she struck out 13 and allowed one walk in the fourth inning. In her next start, Newman followed that with a five-inning no-hitter in a 9-0 win at Missouri State where she struck out 11 and hit one batter in the fifth inning. In her final start of the week, she pitched a complete game in a wild 9-5 comeback win over the Bears where she allowed two runs with 11 strikeouts and one walk.
 
This year, Newman is 23-6 overall with a 0.95 ERA (fourth in nation) and a nation-leading 327 strikeouts. She leads the nation in strikeouts per seven innings at 13.0 and hits allowed per game at 2.81. Her 23 wins are the most by a Drake pitcher since Laurie Bowden won a program-record 28 games in 1990 This season, Newman has three perfect no-hitters and two no-hitters. This is her ninth MVC Pitcher of the Week award this season and a league-record 22nd in her outstanding career.
 
Newman and her teammates host Iowa State Wednesday night at 6 p.m. in the first of its final four regular season games. The Bulldogs return to league action Friday when Evansville visits Buel Field for a 2 p.m. doubleheader. The teams end the season Saturday at 12 p.m. All four games will be streamed on ESPN+.