GREENSBORO, N.C. – Virginia Tech freshman Kelly Heinz and Georgia Tech junior Alysha Rudnik and have been named Atlantic Coast Conference Softball Pitcher and Player of the Week, respectively, as announced Tuesday by the conference office.
Heinz became the first Virginia Tech player in program history to throw a no-hitter in her first collegiate start. The native of Mechanicsville, Va., struck out 11 batters and needed only 97 pitches in the six-inning game, tossing 64 for strikes against Southern Illinois. In the prior game, she threw 4.2 innings of relief without giving up a hit, for a combined hitless streak of 10.2 straight innings. On the weekend, Heinz threw 12.2 scoreless innings, picking up a win and a save. She struck out 21-of-37 batters faced with no runs allowed and an opponent batting average of .050 in the four appearances.
Rudnik started all five games for Georgia Tech and totaled nine runs and eight walks, both team highs, as the Yellow Jackets went 5-0 on opening weekend. The native of Lawrenceville, Ga., also drove in 10 runs, hit for a .545 batting average, and stole three bases. Against Butler, Rudnick scored three runs and drove in four more to help the Tech offense score 24 runs, the most by an ACC team since Feb. 17, 2010. For the weekend, she had a slugging percentage of 1.000 and an on-base percentage of .667.
Tech (4-1) is back in action this weekend, playing at the Troy Subway Invitational in Troy, Ala.
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