St. John Fisher St. John Fisher College’s Leanne Merchant (Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake/Scotia), a junior on the softball team, has been named the College’s Female Athlete of the Week for the week ending April 8, 2012. She was also named as the Empire 8 Conference Player of the Week.
Merchant recorded an astonishing 14 RBI, a .555 batting average and a 1.278 slugging percentage in a 5-1 week for the Cardinals, as they got off to a 3-1 start in Empire 8 play.
On Monday, Fisher, ranked 21st nationally, hosted The College at Brockport in a non-conference doubleheader. In that matchup, Merchant hit four RBI in both games, including a perfect 4-for-4 in game one. In game one with the score tied 1-1, Merchant put the Cardinals ahead with an RBI double, spark a run that gave Fisher the lead for good en route to an 8-2 in. In game two, which Fisher won 9-0, Merchant belted a three-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the sixth for the mercy rule victory.
The Cardinals opened Empire 8 play on Friday, hosting a doubleheader with Nazareth where Fisher won both games 5-0 and 11-1. In the second game of the day, Fisher trailed 1-0 entering the fourth inning before Merchant hit a two-run shot to give Fisher the lead. Merchant added three more RBI on the day to tie her career-high of five RBI.
The week ended with Fisher going 1-1 at Alfred University, where Fisher won game one 9-1 and fell 4-3 in game two. Merchant added another RBI, two hits and a run scored in that series.
The junior catcher currently leads Fisher in home runs (9), RBI (30) and total bases (58), and ranks among the national and conference leaders in all three categories.
Fisher will return to action at 3 p.m. on Monday when it travels to face Pitt-Bradford for a non-conference doubleheader with the Panthers.
