VIDEO: Allison Rager Interview
VIDEO: Abby Fiessinger Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – After a 4-0 week, Carson-Newman softball outfielder Abby Fiessinger (Benton, Ky.) and pitcher Allison Rager (Elkview, W.Va.) have been lauded with weekly honors.
Fiessinger earned her second SAC AstroTurf and TSWA Player of the Week awards, while Rager picked up the league's Pitcher of the Week honors for the first time in her career.
It marks the first time Carson-Newman has swept the league's pitcher and player of the week accolades since March 28, 2017 when Taylor Scott (Huntington, W.Va.) was named player of the week and Lacie Rinus (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) brought home pitcher of the week honors.
The pair helped Carson-Newman to successive sweeps of Tusculum and league-leading Lenoir-Rhyne.
Fiessinger hit .500 for the week, going 7-for-14 at the plate with an extra-base hit in every game the Eagles played. She produced a trio of doubles, two home runs and 11 RBI for the week. Against the Pioneers, she was 5-for-7 with seven driven in. She hit a grand slam in a 17-4 win in the nightcap against Tusculum.
Against Lenoir-Rhyne, it was Fiessinger's three-run bomb that ignited the Eagles' offense in a 10-4 series-opening win.
She is in the process of rewriting Carson-Newman's record books. With a league-leading .820 slugging percentage, Fiessinger is line to become the fourth player in school history to slug better than .800 for a single season. She is tied for ninth in a career with 38 doubles, and needs three more to match Caitlyn Lance for eighth all-time. She has 22 career bombs, tied for eighth all-time, and needs two more to match Mandy Stevens.
Meanwhile, Rager locks in the pitcher of the week honor after tossing 17 innings across three appearances last week. She tallied 20 strikeouts for the week. The headliner in that was a 13-punchout performance in a game-one win over Lenoir-Rhyne on Saturday.
The 13 strikeouts are a career high and tied for the fourth-most in Carson-Newman history.
Rager tallied complete-game wins against both Tusculum and L-R. She fired a win in relief in game two against Lenoir-Rhyne. She worked through pressure and left the tying run on third base in the seventh to get Carson-Newman its first sweep of Lenoir-Rhyne in Hickory since 2015.
Rager, Fiessinger and the rest of the Eagles will be in action Wednesday against North Greenville at 1 p.m. Coverage is available on the Eagle Sports Network at cneagles.com/live.