Fort Hays State senior softball player Maddie Holub swept the MIAA Softball Athlete of the Week awards for Tuesday (Mar. 12) as she was named Hitter of the Week and Pitcher of the Week. She helped FHSU to a 6-2 record on the team's trip to Florida this past week, which included two wins over nationally ranked opponents. On Wednesday (Mar. 13), she was named the Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Pitcher of the Week for the second time in her career.
Holub had a huge week at the plate in Fort Hays State's eight games in Florida. She batted .464 with five home runs, three doubles, a triple, and 10 RBI with with eight runs scored, slugging 1.179 for the week. All five of her home runs came in a six-game stretch at the NTC Spring Games in Clermont, Fla. After posting a shutout win as a pitcher against No. 11 Tampa by a score of 1-0 to start the week, she had a double and scored Fort Hays State's only run in the second game of the doubleheader with Tampa. Her bat really came to life in the six-game stretch at the NTC Spring Games in Clermont, Fla. Against Post University, her two-run home run in the fourth broke a scoreless tie as FHSU went on to win 3-0. She helped her own cause as a pitcher in a 1-0 in-region win against University of Mary, delivering the only run of the game with a RBI single in the fifth. With FHSU trailing 3-0 early to St. Anselm, she triggered a three-run fourth with a solo home run and FHSU went on to win 5-4 in eight innings. Against Wayne State, she put FHSU on the board in the first with a solo home run as FHSU picked up a big in-region win against Wayne State (Neb.), 2-1 in eight innings. She had her biggest game against #24 Winona State, going 4-for-4 with a pair of two-run home runs in a 12-2 in-region win. She was just a double short of the cycle in that game. In the week's finale against Grand Valley State, she drove home the only run of the game for FHSU with a RBI single.
Meanwhile in the pitching circle, Holub improved to 7-0 overall on the season by going 4-0 for FHSU in Florida this past week. She had four complete games and averaged 11.5 strikeouts per seven innings and 1.6 per inning. She was the winner for FHSU over two nationally ranked opponents, No. 11 Tampa on its home field and No. 24 Winona State. She did not allow an earned run in her first 40 innings of the season until allowing just one against Wayne State in a 2-1 win in eight innings. Against Tampa, she won a match-up between two of the premier strikeout pitchers in Division II with 11 strikeouts and just three hits allowed, while her counterpart Kayla Cox had 19 strikeouts in the game, but FHSU won 1-0. She also won 1-0 against University of Mary with 12 strikeouts and just two hits allowed. Against Wayne State, she struck out 10 in an eight-inning game. Against No. 24 Winona State, she struck out 13, allowing four hits and just two runs in a 12-2 win. Holub has reached double figures in strikeouts in all seven of her starts this year and averages 12.2 per seven innings. Her season ERA currently sits at 0.41.
