Press Release Written by Sports Information Graduate Intern MaryKate Rumbaugh
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – With the spring athletic regular seasons coming to a close, Wilmington University athletics earned three student-athletes to this week's Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Players of the Week, as announced by the commissioner on Monday.
Baseball's Luke Johnson earned CACC Player of the Week, along with softball's Lauren Lopez who earned CACC Player of the Week, while men's lacrosse's Zach Pancake was named CACC Defensive Player of the Week for the Wildcats.
Senior Luke Johnson finished the week for WilmU with eight hits in 18 at bats, with 11 RBI. In game two against Caldwell, he went 1-for-3 with three RBI in the designated hitter spot. On Sunday for Senior Day against Jefferson, he went 3-for-3 with four RBI in game one, including two home runs. He followed that with his third home run of the day in the second game, a two-run shot out to left field, which tied the ballgame up at 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth inning. Johnson concluded the week batting .444 with a .944 slugging percentage and a .500 on base percentage. He is currently tied for third in the CACC with nine homeruns on the season, while also tying for sixth in the league with 45 RBI. Johnson is sixth in the CACC batting .377 on the year, as well.
Softball's Lauren Lopez was named CACC Player of the Week for the first time this season. Lopez had seven hits and two RBI throughout just two games played for the Wildcats. She went 2-for-3 in game one against Felician, with a solo homerun. In game two against the Golden Falcons, she went a perfect 5-for-5, including a double, and one RBI. She finished the week batting .875 to go along with a 1.375 slugging percentage, and a .889 on base percentage. The sophomore third baseman is currently leading the CACC in RBI with 57 on the season, while sitting seventh in the league batting .386.
Freshman Zach Pancake earned men's lacrosse's CACC Defensive Player of the Week, as he helped WilmU to a 2-0 record last week. He collected seven groundballs and caused four caused turnovers throughout the two games. In the Wildcats 14-13 win over Dominican, he collected four groundballs and caused one turnover before collecting three groundballs and having three caused turnovers in their 17-6 win over Felician. The defenseman has 36 groundballs collected on the year and had caused 13 turnovers so far.
Teammates Dylan McCleaft and Noah Given were named to this week's Honor Roll for men's lacrosse. McCleaft finished the week with 11 goals for 12 points. He scored the game-winning goal for the Wildcats in their 14-13 win over Dominican. He also collected seven groundballs throughout the two games. Goalkeeper Noah Given made 23 saves in the net for the Wildcats for a .575 save percentage. He made 17 saves against Dominican and finished the week with a 9.71 goals against average.
On the women's side, Lashay Ross and Delaney Steele earned a spot on the Honor Roll this week for women's lacrosse. Ross finished the week with 10 goals and one assist. She scored six goals and had one assist for seven points in WilmU's win over Post. Delaney Steele dished out 10 assists, while scoring five goals for 15 points this past week. She had three goals and nine assists for 12 points in the Wildcats 23-10 win over Post.