Bucknell University Athletics
Kristen Zahn Selected as Patriot League Softball Player of the Week
3/4/2014 3:28:00 PM | Softball
LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Patriot League presented its second set of weekly softball awards on Tuesday, and the Bucknell softball team was honored once again for its impressive individual performances. Junior Kristen Zahn (Readington, N.J./Hunterdon Central Regional) was selected as the conference's Player of the Week after putting forth a series of stellar hitting performances at the five-game UNCW Beach Bash tournament this past weekend. The weekly honor is the first of Zahn's career, and she also becomes the first Bison to be recognized as Player of the Week since Lauren Fry was chosen on April 19, 2010.
Zahn started in each of Bucknell's five games in a 1-4 weekend for the team, registering at least one hit in four of the contests. She began the competition with a 3-for-4 outing in a 12-3 win over Brown, highlighted by a three-run home run in the bottom of the first that gave the Bison a lead over the Bears that they would maintain through the rest of the game. She also had a double against Brown, and finished the game with two runs and three RBI. In Friday's second game against UNCG, Zahn hit 2-for-3 with a triple, a run and two RBI. Saturday featured more dominant hitting, as the junior was 1-for-3 in both of Bucknell's games, knocking another one out of the park against the Bison's second match-up with the Bears to bring in two RBI.
Zahn finished the tournament with a team-high 1.000 slugging percentage, as well as a .438 batting average and a .526 on-base percentage. After two weekends of competition, her .897 slugging percentage ranks her first among Patriot League hitters, while her .345 batting average ranks her third among the Bison and ninth in the conference. She has also matched last season's team-high with four home runs, accomplishing the feat in just nine games.
The Bison will return to action on Sunday with their first two contests in the Rebel Spring Games, a tournament that will test the team's endurance with ten games in a six-day time span. Bucknell will open the competition with a 12 p.m. contest against Akron on March 9, and will follow that up with a 2 p.m. match-up against Creighton.
