NCAC Athletes of the Week – Week of March 5, 2024

­­North Coast Athletic Conference Athletes of the Week – Week of March 4, 2024
 
Baseball Player of the Week – Noah Leib, Denison
Denison senior first baseman Noah Leib (Evanston, IL/Evanston Township) hit .636 (7-for-11) with eight RBI, six runs, five walks, four stolen bases, and two doubles to help the Big Red finish 3-0 at the Derby City Classic last week. In a comeback win over North Central (15-7), Leib hit a two-run single to center in the bottom of the sixth inning to give Denison its first lead of the game (7-5). On Sunday, the senior led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a double to center before scoring the walk-off run on a single to short which gave the Big Red a 10-9 victory over No. 11 Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Leib went 3-for-4 with two RBI and three runs against the Pointers before going 2-for-3 with three walks, three steals and two RBI in an 11-6 win over Spalding to close out the weekend. Over the three games, Leib tallied 30 putouts and one assist with no errors.
 
Baseball Pitcher of the Week – Corey Knauf, Wooster
Wooster senior pitcher Corey Knauf (Vienna, VA/Bishop O’Connell) guided the Fighting Scots to a 9-1 win over Case Western on Saturday. Knauf struck out eight and allowed just one earned run on five hits in seven strong innings of play. Knauf set down the side in order in the first, third, and fourth innings and faced just one batter over the minimum through four. He struck out CWRU's third and fourth hitters after a Spartan reached third base in the sixth inning, with Wooster at the time protecting a 2-1 lead.
 
Men’s Lacrosse Athlete of the Week – Thomas Nelson, Kenyon
Kenyon junior face-off specialist Thomas Nelson (Minneapolis, MN/The Blake School) helped guide the Owls to a 2-0 week with wins over Albion (16-6) and Centre (17-12). Nelson was nearly perfect in faceoffs, collecting 19-of-21, and picked up a team-high 12 ground balls in the win over Albion. Against Centre, Nelson went 21-for-32 from the faceoff X and tallied another team-high 16 ground balls. Additionally, after securing key wins in the face-off X, Nelson helped facilitate seven-straight goals to open the fourth quarter. On the week, Nelson recorded a .755 win percentage in faceoffs and picked up 28 ground balls.
 
Women’s Lacrosse Athlete of the Week – Nicole Klabus, Ohio Wesleyan
Ohio Wesleyan senior attacker Nicole Klabus (Delaware, OH/Hayes) and the Battling Bishops went 3-0 on the week with wins over Capital (17-8), Franciscan (21-7), and Ohio Northern (15-10). Against Capital, Klabus recorded a goal and an assist in OWU’s game-opening 3-0 burst. The senior finished the game with a team-high six points on four goals and two assists. On Saturday, Klabus netted a hat trick in the first quarter against Franciscan. The attacker finished the game with four goals. Against ONU, Klabus scored a goal and recorded an assist during a 4-1 run to help OWU comeback from a 5-3 deficit. On the week, Klabus compiled 15 points on 10 goals and five assists, while adding three ground balls, one caused turnover, and one draw control.
 
Softball Player of the Week – Alyssa Back, Ohio Wesleyan
Ohio Wesleyan senior third base Alyssa Back (Newark, OH/Newark) hit .714 (5-for-7), scored two runs and snagged two bases to help propel the Battling Bishops to a double header sweep over Olivet (8-0, 7-0) on Sunday. During game one, Back delivered an RBI single in OWU’s four-run third inning. In the second game, the senior was perfect at the plate, going 4-for-4 to spark the 7-run victory. Back’s 4-for-4 performance tied OWU’s single-game program record for hits for the second time in her career. In the field, the Newark, Ohio, native recorded six assists and one put out.
 
Softball Pitcher of the Week – Katie Chittum, Ohio Wesleyan
Ohio Wesleyan senior pitcher Katie Chittum (Hebron, OH/Lakewood) guided the Battling Bishops to an 8-0 win over Olivet on Sunday. In the win, Chittum allowed just two hits across five innings, while also striking out one and walking two. The senior no-hit the Comets through the first three innings and only allowed one runner to reach second base through five innings of play.
 
Men’s Tennis Athlete of the Week – Shawn Lisann, Oberlin
Oberlin sophomore Shawn Lisann (Vienna, VA/Oakton) helped the Yeomen secure a pair of wins over Otterbein (7-2) and Ohio Northern (5-4) by going 4-0 while playing at No. 1 doubles and No. 2 singles. In the win over Otterbein, Lisann was able to outlast his opponent in three sets 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 while he and Sebastian Naginski (Watertown, MA/International School of Boston) cruised by the Cardinals' top doubles pairing with an 8-2 victory. Against Ohio Northern, Lisann’s two wins were essential to the Yeomen securing the 5-4 victory. In doubles play, Lisann and Naginski edged the Polar Bears 8-6 before Lisann went on to win the top singles flight 6-2, 6-3.
 
Women’s Tennis Athlete of the Week – Caroline Kittle, Denison
Denison junior Caroline Kittle (Indianapolis, IN/Park Tudor School) went 3-0 at No. 2 singles this weekend and was 4-1 overall. During Denison's 9-0 win at Wooster, Kittle defeated her opponent 6-1, 6-1 in singles and teamed up with Maia Nowicki (Des Plaines, IL/St. Viator) for an 8-3 win in the No. 2 doubles spot. In a 9-0 win over Kalamazoo, Kittle won 6-1, 6-1 in singles. The junior then won her third singles match of the weekend with a 3-6, 7-5, 1-0 (14-12) win in a third-set super tiebreaker against No. 17 Case Western Reserve.
 
NCAC Milestones & Records (Feb. 26 – March 3)
 
Denison, Baseball – Head Coach Mike Deegan earned his 300th career win in a 11-6 victory over Spalding (KY).

DePauw, Softball – With the Tigers' 3-2 win over Babson on February 29, Erica Hanrahan collected her 300th win.
 
DePauw, Women’s Lacrosse – The Tigers defeated Hanover 23-0, marking Head Coach Cori Rees’ first-career win as a head coach.
 
Hiram, Men’s Lacrosse – Junior midfielder Noah Pilgram (Uniontown, OH/Green) guided the Terriers to a 2-0 week with wins over La Roche (27-1) and Mount Saint Joseph (29-3). Pilgram tallied a program-record 12 points, consisting of seven goals and five assists, on Wednesday against La Roche and followed it up with 11 points, with six goals and five assists, on Saturday against Mount St. Joseph. The two games also marked the two highest goal totals for a single game in Pilgram’s career.
 
Ohio Wesleyan, Women’s Lacrosse - With a goal and an assist against Capital, junior attacker Caroline Fleming (Pittsburgh, PA/South Fayette) reached the 100-point mark.
 

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