NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State duo of junior outfielder
Shelby DesChamps and freshman pitcher
Skylar Swain picked up a pair of honors on Monday when the MEAC announced its weekly awards for softball.
DesChamps was named the MEAC Player of the Week, and Swain earned the league's Rookie of the Week Award. They led the Spartans to a 4-1 record this weekend at home with three wins over South Carolina State and a doubleheader split with Davis & Elkins in the Spartan Classic.
DesChamps hit .615 (8-for-13) over the course of those five games, piling up six runs on eight hits with five RBI. The left-hander smacked three doubles, stole three bases, and had five walks for an on-base percentage of more than .700. Her best outing came in the second game of a twinbill with S.C. State on Saturday when she hit 3-for-3 with two runs, two RBI and two stolen bases.
A native of Virginia Beach, Virginia, DesChamps also had two hits in game 1 on Saturday, both doubles, as well as two hits in game 2 on Sunday versus Davis & Elkins.
Swain, meanwhile, earned three wins in the circle, posting a 0.81 ERA in 8.2 innings of work. She struck out seven and allowed just five hits and one earned run over the course of three games. The Portsmouth, Virginia native got her first win when she pitched 2.2 innings of relief on Friday in a five-inning victory against S.C. State, allowing just one hit with two strikeouts.
She pitched exactly three innings in each of a pair of starts that resulted in five-inning wins on Saturday and Sunday as well. On Saturday, she struck out four and gave up just one hit against the Bulldogs in game 2 of a doubleheader. Then on Sunday, she allowed three hits and her only run of the weekend in three innings of work in game 2 against Davis & Elkins.
Swain currently owns a 4-1 record with a 1.72 ERA on the year, striking out 19 in 20.1 innings of work while allowing just eight runs, five of them earned. She ranks first in the MEAC in wins, third in ERA and seventh in strikeouts.
DesChamps owns a .581 average on the season with 15 runs, 18 hits, three doubles, six RBI, eight walks and 10 stolen bases. She currently leads the MEAC in hits, runs, stolen bases and on-base percentage (.667) and ranks second in average and walks.
NSU will next head south for the Winthrop Invitational, playing four games in two days between Friday and Saturday.
