Nicole Riley & Justine Burgess Earn Little East Conference Weekly Honors

Providence, RI—Rhode Island College junior pitcher Nicole Riley (North Providence, RI) and freshman pitcher Justine Burgess (Uxbridge, MA) were recognized by the Little East Conference for their respective performances in softball last week.

Riley was named the Little East Conference Softball Pitcher of the Week for the second consecutive week and for the third time on the season. She was 5-0 with a 1.37 ERA with 32 strikeouts over 30.2 innings of work in six appearances. Riley struck out eight and allowed just one run in the Anchorwomen’s, 2-1, win over PSU on Apr. 22. She tied the RIC record for wins in a season (17) in the victory.

For the season, Riley has appeared in 24 games, starting 18 of them. She is 17-2 with a 1.37 earned run average, 110 strikeouts and five shutouts in 122.2 innings of work. She has not lost a game since Mar. 17.

Burgess was named the Little East Conference Softball Rookie of the Week. She batted .458 (11-for-24) with five runs scored, six RBI, two doubles and a homer in eight games. On the mound, she was 2-0 with a 2.49 ERA in 25.1 innings pitched with 15 strikeouts. For the season, Burgess is 6-5 with a 2.86 ERA and 39 strikeouts over 71 innings of work in 14 appearances. She is batting .324 (22-for-68) with 13 runs scored, five doubles, one triple, one home run and ten RBI.

Head Coach Maria Morin’s team is 24-7-1 overall and 6-1-1 (2^nd Place) in the Little East Conference on the season. The Anchorwomen are currently ranked number one in New England. In upcoming action, the Anchorwomen will host Western Connecticut on Tuesday, Apr. 25, Keene State on Thursday, Apr. 27 and play at Eastern Connecticut on Saturday, Apr. 29. The games are all doubleheaders as well as Little East Conference contests.

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