CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - The American Rivers Conference announced that Simpson College baseball player
Truman Schmitt (Hinton, Iowa/Hinton) and University of Dubuque softball player
Deanna Origer (Algonquin, Ill./Dundee-Crown) were named American Rivers Conference Athletes of the Week, for the week ending Sunday, March 17, 2019. The Conference also announced Performers of the Week in baseball, softball and men’s tennis.
Male Athlete of the Week – Baseball – Position Player of the Week
Truman Schmitt, Simpson College
Jr., Catcher, Hinton, Iowa/Hinton
- Schmitt batted .589 with 10 hits last week, helping Simpson go 4-1 and improve to 6-1 overall.
- He finished with 1 double and 1 home run while driving in 4 runs and scoring 8 times himself.
- He threw out two would-be base stealers and had a 1.000 fielding percentage from behind the plate.
- In Simpson’s 11-10 win over Curry, Schmitt was 4-for-5 with 2 RBI, 2 runs and 1 home run.
- Schmitt went 1-for-2 with 2 walks, scoring 2 runs in the Storm’s 6-11 loss to New Jersey City University.
- In the 10-9 win against Beloit, Schmitt finished 3-for-4 with 2 RBI and 2 runs.
- In game one against Crown, Schmitt helped Simpson to a 3-1 win with 1 double, 1 walk and 2 runs.
- Game two against Crown went to Simpson by a score of 7-5, with Schmitt going 1-for-4.
- This is the first Position Player of the Week honor for Schmitt and the first for Simpson since April 4, 2014 (Josh Pirtle).
Female Athlete of the Week - Softball – Position Player of the Week
Deanna Origer, University of Dubuque
Fr., 3B, Algonquin, Ill./Dundee-Crown
- Origer helped the Spartans to an 8-1 record last week with a .533 batting average, going 16-for-30 at the plate with 3 doubles, 3 triples and just 1 strikeout.
- She found the base path .559 percent of the time and had a slugging percentage of .833.
- Her work drove in 13RBI and she crossed homeplate 10 times, herself.
- In UD’s 4-1 win over Gordon, Origer was 1-for-3 with 1 walk and scored 1 run.
- Origer was 1-for-3 with 1 double in the Spartan’s 0-5 loss to Northwestern-St. Paul.
- In the 9-3 win over Utica, Origer went 2-for-4 with 1 triple, 1 RBI and 1 run scored.
- UD’s 4-0 victory against Lakeland saw Origer go 2-for-4 with 1 RBI and 1 run.
- Origer went 3-for-3 with 1 walk and 3 runs scored in the 7-1 victory over Lasell
- In an 11-1 win over Marywood, Origer was 3-for-5 with 1 triple, driving in 4 RBI and scoring 2 runs.
- UD defeated Wheaton 9-1 with Origer finishing 2-for-2 with 1 walk and 2 RBI.
- Pittsburg-Greensburg fell to the Spartans by a score of 9-0, a contest that saw Origer go 1-for-2 with 1 RBI and 1 run.
- Origer closed out spring break going 1-for-4 with 1 triple, 4 RBI and 1 run in UD’s 7-5 win over Marietta.
- This is the first Player of the Week accolade for Origer and the first for UD since March 26, 2017 (Taylor Allard).
Baseball – Pitcher of the Week
Chase Kueter, University of Dubuque
Sr. RHP, Bellevue, Iowa/Bellevue
- Keuter tossed nine innings in UD's 8-3 win over Concordia Wisconsin on Mar. 15.
- In his complete game performance, which was a no-hitter through 6 innings, he struck out 11, walked 0, allowed 4 hits and game up 1 earned run.
- Keuter was voted first-team All-Conference the previous two seasons.
- This is the fifth Pitcher of the Week honor for Keuter (3/18/19, 5/13/18, 4/29/18, 4/16/17, 4/09/17).
Softball – Pitcher of the Week
Kailey Meyer, Nebraska Wesleyan University
So., RHP, Omaha, Neb./Omaha Central
- Meyer went 5-2 on the mound with 2 saves helping the Prairie Wolves go 10-2 during the week.
- The second-year pitcher was on the mound in 11 of NWU’s 12 games, finishing with 5 complete games and 3 shutouts.
- She allowed 11 earned runs in 45 innings for a 1.71 ERA, striking out 41 and walking only 7.
- In 185 batters faced, Meyer held teams to a .213 opponent batting average.
- This is the second career Pitcher of the Week award for Meyer (3/18/19, 3/11/18).
Men’s Tennis – Player of the Week
Lucas Huffman, Wartburg College
Fr., Marion, Iowa/Linn-Mar
- Huffman helped Wartburg defeat Monmouth on March 16 for the first time in last 10 meetings.
- Playing at the No.1 spot, Huffman went 2-0 on the week.
- No.1 Singles: Lucas Huffman (WAR) defeated Joseph Shie (Monmouth) 7-6, 7-5
- No.1 Doubles: Lucas Huffman/Will McDonald (WAR) def. Joseph Shie/Zach Harris (Monmouth) 8-3
- This is the second Player of the Week honor for Huffman.
