NORMAL, Ill. - Northern Iowa freshman Sammey Bunch was named the Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week for a second consecutive week, the league announced Monday.
Bunch (Fatima High School) collected five hits during a weekend sweep at Illinois State. In Saturday's doubleheader, she had a single and a double in game one, then hit a two-run home run in game two, her seventh homer of the season.
In Sunday's regular-season finale, an 8-2 win, Bunch went 2-for-4 with three RBI to extend her hit streak to five games.
In 50 games this season, Bunch has a .333 batting average (49-for-147) with a team-high 41 runs scored, 32 RBI and 12 stolen bases. She also leads the Panthers with 12 doubles and four triples.
Northern Iowa (32-18) finished in a tie for first place in the MVC standings with a 20-6 record, but the Panthers will receive the No. 1 seed by head-to-head tiebreaker in this week's tournament. Northern Iowa will play in the semifinals Friday at Illinois State.