CHICAGO – For the second time this season, junior pitcher Lily Strand (Evergreen Park, Ill./Saint Louis/Evergreen Park) was named the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) Softball Pitcher of the Week for the Saint Xavier University softball team (14-9/3-0 CCAC) when the awards were announced by the league office Tuesday morning. She pitched twice in the three-game series sweep of Judson University (Ill.) over the weekend, winning games one and three, as the Cougars opened conference play. Strand claimed CCAC Pitcher of the Week earlier this year on February 17.

• Strand pitched game one, going 5.0 innings with just two hits, three earned runs, two walks and eight strikeouts in a 12-3 victory in six innings Friday afternoon in Elgin, Ill. She bookended the series by allowing just one hit, one earned run, two walks and three strikeouts to move her record to 7-5 in the circle as SXU won 9-1 in five innings Saturday afternoon in game two of the home-opening doubleheader for Saint Xavier.
• Strand leads the team is wins, appearances with 14, starts with 11, earned run average (ERA) at 2.86, innings pitched with 73.1, complete games with eight, shutouts with two, saves with one and strikeouts with 59.

Saint Xavier (14-9/3-0 CCAC) starts a three-game series with Trinity Christian College (Ill.) on Tuesday, March 24 in Palos Heights, Ill. with a doubleheader starting at 2:00 pm. The series wraps up with a seven-inning contest at SXU on Wednesday, March 25 at 2:00 pm.