Player of the Week
Peyton Pusey, Marist
Sr., Bear, DE, Red Lion Christian Academy
 
In Marist's 5-0 week, Peyton Pusey hit .571 (12-fo-21) with a 1.523 OPS, which included a .952 slugging percentage. She hit two homers, drove in five runs, scored five runs, had two doubles, and stole two bases. She hit safely in every game, with four multi-hit contests. She went 2-for-4 with a stolen base in the first game of a doubleheader at Manhattan on Wednesday, a 10-2 Marist win. In the second game, she went 4-for-5 with three RBIs, three runs scored, two home runs (the third two-homer game of her career), a double, and a stolen base in the Red Foxes' 12-3 victory. In the first game of a doubleheader against Siena on Friday, Pusey went 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI in Marist's 5-4 win. Her two-out single in the third was the start of a four-run rally that tied the game, and her RBI single with two outs in the fourth brought home what proved to be the game-winning run. In game two against Siena, she doubled to lead off the bottom of the first in a 5-4 Marist victory. In Saturday's third game of the series, she went 2-for-4 with a run scored in Marist's 11-3 win. Pusey handled 11 chances in center field without committing an error, which included three assists. One game in the top of the seventh in game two against Siena, as she threw out Emma Petersen heading to second after her two-out single tied the game. Marist then scored the winning run in the bottom half of the inning. In Wednesday's second game at Manhattan, she played in her program-record 220th career game.
 
Pitcher of the Week
Melissa Gordon, Iona
Fr., Levittown, NY, St. Anthony's
 
Melissa Gordon continued her stellar rookie campaign with the Iona University softball team this past week. The first-year right hander went 3-0 with two shutouts and a 0.00 earned run average. Gordon held opposing batters to a .194 batting average and yielded two unearned runs this past week. She opened the week with a complete game against Seton Hall on Tuesday, issuing seven hits and two unearned runs in the 7-2 win. Gordon followed that up with a one-hit shutout in the 4-0 game one win at Manhattan on Friday. She issued two walks and struck out three Jaspers in the win. Gordon closed the weekend with a six-hit five inning shutout for her 13th win of the season as Iona won 11-0 on Saturday. She leads the MAAC with a 1.78 earned run average and ranks 20th nationally.
 
Rookie of the Week
Rachael Morales, Iona
Fr., Tolland, CT, Edwin O. Smith High School
 
Rachael Morales delivered a standout week at the plate for the Iona University softball team. The rookie batted .444 (8-for-18) with three runs scored, two doubles, a triple, home run and a team-high seven runs batted in as the Gaels went 4-1 to close out the regular season. Morales opened the week with one hit in the doubleheader split at Seton Hall. She then followed that up by batting .583 (7-for-12) and seven runs batted in in the series sweep at Manhattan this weekend. Morales recorded an RBI double in game one’s 4-0 victory. She followed that up with a triple, RBI double and a single in game two’s 9-7 extra innings win. Morales capped the weekend with another three-hit game including her fifth home run of the season. She tied her season-high with five runs batted in as Iona won 11-0 in the weekend finale.
 
The 2026 MAAC Softball Championship will take place May 6-9, 2026. The six-team, double-elimination championship will be hosted by the highest seed. For all information regarding the 2026 MAAC Softball Championship, please visit http://maacsports.com/softball.
 
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 13 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 45th year of competition during the 2025-26 academic year. Current conference members include: Canisius University, Fairfield University, Iona University, Manhattan University, Marist University, Merrimack College, Mount St. Mary’s University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Sacred Heart University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena University.
 
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