The Richards Group Athletes of the Week - Plonka & Kretzschmar

While it is still a little chilly in the northeast, Dartmouth bats and gloves are giving us a taste of warmer weather to come. Senior Brooke Plonka was downright freezing opposing batters this past week, throwing a no-hitter and striking out 11 Brown Bears in one game. Fellow classmate Kade Kretzschmar was on fire at the plate with eight hits in four games beginning with a 2-for-3 night at UMass Lowell.

Their efforts are rewarded by being named The Richards Group Athletes of the week.

Each week, DartmouthSports.com will spotlight two outstanding student-athletes - one male, one female - as Athletes of the Week. Student-athletes may be chosen based upon their efforts both on and off the field of competition.

Brooke Plonka, Sr., Marilla, N.Y., Pitcher, Softball

Plonka became the first Dartmouth pitcher to throw two no-hitters in a Big Green career, holding Brown hitless in the first of three games with the Bears over the weekend in a 3-1 victory. The only run she allowed was unearned and she struck out 11, her fourth career game in double digits. It was also her sixth consecutive complete-game victory, having defeated Hartford last Wednesday by a 2-1 final. In her three starts last week, all of which Dartmouth won, Plonka posted a 2-0 record with a 1.47 ERA, striking out 22 in 19 innings while holding the opposition to a .185 average.

Kade Kretzschmar, Sr., Carlsbad, Calif., OF, Baseball

Kretzschmar collected eight hits in four games last week with at least one extra-base hit in every contest. First he went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI at UMass Lowell, then stroked a pair of two-baggers in five trips to the plate in a 14-4 victory at Yale. He was the lone offensive bright spot in a 5-1 defeat against the Bulldogs, tripling and scoring the only run, then ended the weekend going 3-for-6 with a double, three runs and an RBI in the series-clinching 11-4 triumph. All told, the senior hit .471 with an .824 slugging percentage, four doubles, a triple, five runs and two RBIs.

Schedules

The Richards Group Athletes of the Week - Plonka & Kretzschmar

Players Mentioned

Kade Kretzschmar

Brooke Plonka

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Schedules