March 20, 2006

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA . . . The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced today that Central College baseball player Brett Mahan (West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley) and Coe College softball player Chris Engel (Indianola, Iowa/Indianola) have been named the IIAC Male and Female Athletes of the Week for the period ending Sunday, March 19. The Conference also announced the Performers of the Week for each of the Conference’s four sports in competition during the week.

Baseball – Brett Mahan, Central College, West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley
Mahan, a sophomore pitcher, threw a pair of complete game victories in two appearances during the week. He finished the week with a 2-0 record, a 1.29 ERA, 14 strikeouts, two walks and 14 hits allowed. He struck out seven batters and surrendered eight hits in an 8-1 victory over St. Norbert. In a 6-1 win over Allegheny, Mahan struck out seven batters, allowed six hit and walked two.

Softball – Chris Engel, Coe College, Indianola, Iowa/Indianola
Engel, a senior first baseman, hit .636 (7-for-11) with two home runs, three doubles, 11 RBI and three runs scored in four games during the week. She began the week with a 1-for-3, two RBI offensive performance in Coe’s 9-0 victory over Greenville. She was held hitless in one official at-bat in a 2-1 victory over Fontbonne but drove in a run on a sacrifice fly and also had a sacrifice bunt. Engel’s top game of the week was in an 8-1 win over Blackburn in which she went 4-for-4 with a grand slam, two doubles and seven RBI. She finished the week with a 2-for-3, a home run, an RBI and two runs scored in a 5-2 victory over Maryville (Mo.).

Men’s Golf – Derek Deminsky, Central College, Rogers, Minn./Elk River
Deminsky, a sophomore, won the Dutch Desert Shootout at the Palm Valley Golf Course (in Goodyear, Ariz.) with a three-under-par 69.

Men’s Tennis – Nick Cochrane, Central College, Fort Dodge, Iowa/Fort Dodge
Cochrane, a senior, went 6-0 on Central’s spring trip to Glendale, Ariz. and was the only Dutch player to go unbeaten during the week. He defeated Division II Mesa State’s David Smith and Ripon’s Paul Vanden Boogaard by identical 6-2, 6-1 scores at #1 singles. He also defeated Roger Williams’ Brad Bolte (6-1, 6-2) at #1 singles. At #1 doubles, Cochrane and partner Ryan Dierks posted wins over Mesa State (8-2), Ripon (8-3) and Roger Williams (9-8).

Other Outstanding Weekly Performers
The IIAC also recognized the following outstanding athletic performances from the past week.

• Cornell College sophomore leftfielder Ben Rudman (Littleton, Colo./Littleton) hit .636 (7-for-11) with a double, five RBI and three runs scored in doubleheader sweeps of Eureka and Bethany Lutheran as the Rams extended its win streak to five.

• Luther College junior catcher Kyle Schroeder (Sparta, Wis./Bangor) hit .643 (9-for-14) with two home runs, two doubles, five RBI and five runs scored in a four-game season-opening series at Westminster (Mo.) in which the Norse went 3-1.

• Central College freshman centerfielder Alysha Overturf (Princeton, Ill./Princeton) hit .524 (11-for-21) with five doubles, seven RBI and seven runs scored in seven games during the week. She had four multi-hit contests, and had a crucial diving catch in the sixth inning of a 5-4 win over 9th-ranked Rutgers-Camden.

• Wartburg College junior second baseman Steph Howe (Clinton, Iowa/Northeast Goose Lake) hit for the cycle, had seven RBI and scored three runs in Wartburg’s 18-0 victory over Monmouth (Ill.)

• Coe College senior tennis player Chris Paasch (Atlantic, Iowa/Atlantic) went 4-0 during the week including victories at #1 doubles over the 11th- and 12th-ranked pairs in the Central Region – Luther’s Jono Martin/Brad Nelson and Grinnell’s Dan LaFountaine/Nate Fox – by 8-4 scores with partner Sam Zerbib. Paasch also posted singles victories at the #2 position over Martin and Fox.

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