St. Thomas Aquinas College's Carissa Della Vecchia has been named the East Coast Conference Softball Player of the Week on Monday, following the Spartans' 5-1 week on the diamond. The citation is Della Vecchia's third such honor this season.
Della Vecchia led the way for STAC last week, which won five of six games that included her 6-3 pitching win over the University of Bridgeport to clinch the program's first-ever ECC regular-season championship. In the circle, the senior lefty posted a 3-0 record this week with 35 strikeouts in 23 innings and an earned run average of 0.91. She struck out 15 batters in a 2-1 win over Molloy. At the plate, she batted .500 (10-for-20) that included three hits in wins over Molloy and Dominican. She also drove in five runs.
In addition both Abbie Landrum and Emilie Olivier were tabbed for the league's Honor Roll.
Landrum threw her first collegiate no-hitter in an 8-0 win over Dominican. She was 2-1 in the week, In her 7-2 win over Molloy, the freshman had a two-run double and drove in another run with a sacrifice fly.
Meanwhile, Olivier was the team's offensive standout. The sophomore slammed a game-winning three-run home run in the eighth inning to carry STAC to a 6-3 win over Bridgeport. The win clinched the program's first regular-season ECC title. Olivier batted .583 (7-for-12) in the week with eight runs scored and five RBI.
STAC will meet Mercy College in the first round of the double-elimination ECC playoffs on Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. at Spartan Field. Top-seeded STAC will host the entire conference tournament, which will continue on Friday and Saturday in Sparkill.