Bartlett grad Pagan producing at Purdue Northwest

Bartlett alum Holly Pagan recently was named softball player of the week in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Pagan, a senior on the Purdue Northwest squad, earned the award after hitting .438 (7-for-16) with 2 doubles, 3 home runs, 5 runs scored and 9 RBI during a recent 6-game stretch. She also recorded a 1.125 slugging percentage in that span.

Pagan's efforts helped PNW go 4-2 last week in home doubleheaders against Ashland, Tiffin and Wayne State.

As of Monday, Pagan was among the team leaders in slugging percentage (. 531), RBI (22), doubles (8), home runs (5), total bases (52) and on-base percentage (. 360).

"Holly has put in so much hard work this year and I love seeing players rewarded for their efforts with awards like this one," PNW coach Niki Stansell told the school's athletic website. "She had a great week for our team and was a big factor in our success last week."

Purdue Northwest was 22-19 overall and 12-12 in conference place through Monday.

Shields at Parkside: Huntley graduate Jessica Shields has been a hits machine this season.

Shields, now playing softball at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, through midweek is leading the team in batting average (. 331), runs scored (32) and hits with 49. Of those 49 hits she has 2 triples and has driven in 6 runs, while drawing a team-best 16 walks, which has helped translate into a .404 on-base percentage.

And when she's on the bases, Shields has made the most of it. She's also leading the team in steals with 36 in 39 attempts.

As of midweek Shields had a 7-game hitting streak that included a 3-hit performance in a recent game against William Jewell. In the field, Shields has made only 4 errors in 90 chances. Parkside was 20-24 overall and 9-15 in conference play through midweek.

Rabin at Northwestern: St. Charles North product Sabrina Rabin is now a senior on the Northwestern University softball team.

Through midweek Rabin was thriving in her senior season, leading the Wildcats in hitting with a .391 batting average with 61 hits in 156 at-bats. She's scored 44 runs as well. Of the 61 hits, Rabin has 4 doubles, 3 triples, a homer and 18 RBI. She's slugging .474 and has an on-base percentage of .438 (13 walks). Rabin is 29 of 33 in stolen bases and has a .982 fielding percentage with only 1 error in 56 total chances.

Rabin also has nine 3-or-more-hit games to her credit this season, including a recent 4-for-4 effort against Rutgers where she scored 3 runs and had 3 RBI. Rabin has helped Northwestern to a 29-13 overall mark and an 11-5 Big Ten Conference record through midweek.

Cooper at Triton: Elgin alum Courtese Cooper was a member of the Triton College men's basketball team that won a NJCAA Division II national title this past season.

Cooper, a 6-9 freshman center, averaged 10.1 points per game and 6.8 rebounds per contest in a strong college debut. He shot .558 from the field and hit 40 percent of his 3-point attempts. Cooper also shot .714 from the free-throw line.

Eck picks up honor: St. Charles East graduate Adam Eck recently was named Edgewood College baseball player of the week. Eck picked up the honor after striking out a career-high 14 batters and not allowing an earned run over 7 innings in a loss to Wisconsin Lutheran.

His 14 strikeouts rank as the second-most all-time in school history and the most since 2002. As of early this week, Eck was leading the conference with 13.16 strikeouts per 9 innings and ranks third with 39 total strikeouts.

Robertson wins event: Kaneland track-and-field alum Brook Robertsen had a good outing for the Lewis University men's track-and-field team at the Cougar Invitational held in River Forest.

Robertsen won the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 56.85.

Locals contributing to Winona State success: Two local products are part of the Winona State softball team currently ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Division II Central region and No. 8 in the nation.

St. Charles East graduate Katelyn Kolb is a sophomore outfielder who as of midweek was hitting .323 with 42 hits in 130 at-bats. She has 38 runs scored to go with 2 doubles, 2 triples and 11 RBI. She also has a team-high 20 walks and has made only 1 error in the field in 64 total chances.

And, Burlington Central alum Kristina Ahlers is a freshman infielder-outfielder who has appeared in 29 games and has 5 hits and 4 RBI. Through midweek, Winona was 35-5 overall and 14-2 in conference play.

Batavia grad heads to Brazil: Batavia graduate Cameron Hindel is among 15 Division III players from 10 schools nationally who will play for the USA D-3 Soccer Team in four matches in Brazil against top U-22 club teams in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro from May 29-June 7.

Hindel, who plays at Illinois Wesleyan University, was named to the second team of the 2017 United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division III women's all-Central region team and was a first-team College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin pick. She led Wesleyan with 14 goals and 32 points. The 14 goals are tied for seventh-best in an IWU season and her 32 points is tied for No. 11.

Off at College wants your help: Send information and/or statistics on Fox Valley-area athletes playing collegiately to Mike Miazga at mjm890@gmail.com.