Eagles sweep weekly TSWA honors

Eagles sweep weekly TSWA honors

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - Carson-Newman swept the Tennessee State Sportswriters' Association's player of the week awards, the organization announced Tuesday afternoon. 

Lindsay Dean (Coeburn, Va.) took home pitcher of the week honors, while Kristen Toppel (Roanoke, Va.) was named player of the week as the Eagles swept Bluefield State and Clark Atlanta, while picking up a split with USC Aiken. 

Toppel batted .526 (10-for-19) with one double, two home runs, seven RBIs and eight runs scored in six games for the Eagles. The Roanoke, Va., native posted two hits in both games of a doubleheader versus Bluefield State College, scoring twice in the opener and hitting a three-run inside-the-park homer in the second contest.

The sophomore infielder added another three-run homer in the second game of a twinbill against USC Aiken and went 3-for-3 with a double, one RBI and two runs scored in the first of two contests versus Clark Atlanta. Toppel singled, walked and scored twice in the second game as well. She is batting .404 through 16 games this season for Carson-Newman with three doubles, three homers, 14 RBIs and 15 runs scored. 

The Roanoke, Va.-native has hit succcessfully in 12 consecutive games through that week and pushed her hit streak to 14 with base knocks in both games of the Eagles' split with UVA-Wise Tuesday. 

Dean tossed 12.0 shutout innings for the Eagles to post a pair of victories. The sophomore righthander allowed just one hit and struck out eight in five innings in a victory over Bluefield State College. Four days later the Coeburn, Va., native worked seven scoreless frames against Clark Atlanta, again giving up just one hit and striking out six. 

She was a hit away from perfection in both contests as well.  

Dean is 5-0 in six appearances this season covering 31.2 innings, allowing only 25 hits with 29 strikeouts and a .216 opponent batting average.

The Eagles are in action Wednesday at Concord. For game updates, follow @cnathletics on Twitter.