Fairleigh Dickinson softball standout Madelaine Wilen was named Northeast Conference Player of the Week, the league announced Monday, April 28.Â
Wilen constructed a big week at the plate to extend her hitting streak to 11 games. The California native batted .364 (8-for-22) and slugged .909 in a week where the Knights faced a hot Stony Brook team, who came in with a 12-game winning streak, and two crucial NEC doubleheaders, resulting in a 3-1 finish and a spot in third place with four games to play. Wilen hit three home runs in the week, all against NEC opponents, collected nine RBI and scored four runs. Wilen also added three doubles, as six of her eight hits went for extra bases.
The Knights trailed 6-1 in game two against LIU Brooklyn, before Wilen crushed a three-run bomb to slice the deficit to 6-4 that got FDU back in the game. In her best game of the season in game one against Wagner, Wilen went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a home run, three RBI and two runs while reaching base four times. She scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first to give the Knights a 1-0 lead, before delivering a clutch two-out RBI double in the bottom of the second to increase the advantage to 2-0. Later on in the bottom of the fifth, she hit a two-run bomb over the center field fence to make it 5-0. However, her biggest play of the weekend game in game two against Wagner with the Knights trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the sixth. Wilen hit the first pitch of the inning over the left-center field fence to slice the deficit and half and trigger a three-run rally in the frame, which gave FDU the lead for good at 3-2 and allowed the Knights to sweep the very important conference doubleheader. Â
