Galesburg, IL – A softball player’s streak at the plate that boosted her average more than 100 points is the recipient of a weekly honor from the athletic department.

First-year infielder Rhiannon Neuville-Norton (Eugene, OR, South Eugene) had 13 consecutive at-bats with a hit between last Tuesday and Sunday.  The streak helped Knox win four of its last five games and earned Nueville-Norton the Prairie Fire Performer of the Week Award.

The hits streak began with an RBI single in her last at-bat in a 3-0 victory at home against MacMurray College last Tuesday.  She followed with 12 straight hits – four more in game two of the doubleheader against MacMurray, seven straight in a doubleheader sweep on Senior Day against Robert Morris University last Thursday, and a single to lead off the game in a 10-7 win at Grinnell College last Sunday.

The string of consecutive hits ended in Neuville-Norton’s second at-bat against the Pioneers.  During the five-day stretch, she was 14-for-17 at the plate (.824 average) with 11 runs scored and raised her batting average 108 points to .387, tops on the team and fifth in the Midwest Conference.

Neuville-Norton, frequently the squad’s lead-off hitter, started all 25 games she played in for the Prairie Fire.  Besides leading the team in batting average, she tied for the lead in hits (29) and was first in runs scored (21), stolen bases (6), and on base percentage (.452).

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