Teams: Softball: Press Releases

Tuesday, April 4, 2006

LOPEZ NAMED NESCAC SOFTBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK

MEDFORD -- Sophomore 2B Danielle Lopez (Danvers, MA/Danvers), the 2005 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Rookie of the Year, is off to a strong start in her second season with the Tufts University Softball team. She was named the NESCAC Player of the Week after games against Springfield, Suffolk and Williams last week.

Lopez led the Jumbos offensively through a 5-0 week. She posted a .467 batting average with seven hits in 15 at-bats, including two home runs. She scored nine runs, had five runs batted in, walked three times and stole a base. In the field, she handled 20 chances (12 put-outs, eight assists) flawlessly.

Tufts opened the New England portion of its 2006 schedule at Springfield College on Tuesday. Lopez scored three runs and stole a base in the first game, an 11-1 win in six innings. In game two she hit a home run as part of a 3 for 4 game with two runs and two RBIs during an 8-5 Jumbo win.

After being held hitless in a 6-2 victory at Suffolk on Friday, Lopez played a key role in Sunday's sweep of NESCAC rival. She went 2 for 3 with two runs scored in a 6-4 victory in the first game, then hit a three-run homer to power the Jumbos to a 4-1 victory in the nightcap. The sweep was a measure of revenge after Tufts lost to Williams in the NESCAC final last spring.

Seventeen games into her sophomore season, Lopez is hitting .393 (22/56) with 19 runs scored, 17 RBIs, four doubles and four home runs. She leads NESCAC in runs, RBIs, home runs and total bases. She's also tenth in hitting and fifth in hits.

Lopez is Tufts' first conference player of the Week since teammate Julia Brenta (San Anselmo, CA) was selected last May 2 for her superb late-season pitching, allowing no runs in 13 innings against Williams and Colby.

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