Indianapolis, Ind. – For the third time this season, Youngstown State players swept the Under Armour Horizon League Softball Weekly Awards, the league announced on Tuesday.

Graduate student Sara Fessler was named the Horizon League Player of the Week while senior Sophie Howell was tabbed the Pitcher of the Week.

This is Fessler's first award this season and the second of her career while Howell has claimed her third award this season and the fifth of her career.

Fessler led the Penguins to a perfect 5-0 record last week, including their third straight Horizon League series sweep. She batted .526 (10-for-19) with eight runs scored, two doubles, four home runs, and six runs batted in. She also posted a slugging percentage of 1.263 and an on-base percentage of .571 for a 1.834 OPS. Fessler recorded three hits in game one against St. Bonaventure and clubbed a two-run home in the nightcap. She has two hits in each game against the Phoenix going 6-for-10 in the series with three home runs, a double, three RBIs, and six runs scored.

Howell posted a record of 3-0 with a save and a 1.42 earned-run average while striking out 31 in 19.2 innings pitched. She tossed 3.2 innings of hitless and scoreless relief with five whiffs in the Penguins 16-5 win over St. Bonaventure. Howell recorded the save in YSU's 7-2 win over the Bonnies with three strikeouts in two innings. Howell fanned 11 in a complete-game win over Green Bay on March 29, and she fired a six-hit complete-game shutout with a career-high 12 strikeouts in the series finale on March 31.

The Penguins face Oakland in a three-game series, April 5-6, in Rochester, Mich.