The Lakeland University softball team closed its regular season with some conference honors as Hannah Nelson (Sr.-Loves Park, Ill.) has been named the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Softball Position Player of the Week, as announced Wednesday by the conference.

Nelson received NACC weekly honors for the first time in her very productive career after a big stretch highlighted by two exceptional games last week. The senior right fielder and pitcher batted .591 with 13 hits in 22 at bats over six games, including a double, two triples, two home runs, four runs batted in and nine runs scored as Lakeland (32-8 overall) went 4-2 in games against Marian University, Milwaukee School of Engineering and Concordia University Wisconsin.

Nelson recorded a hit in all six games and went 4-for-4 in consecutive games for a streak of eight consecutive at bats with hits. She went 4-for-4 with a double, triple and three runs scored in the second game of the doubleheader against MSOE, and then went 4-for-4 with two runs scored and a home run to lead off the game in an eventual 6-2 win over Concordia that wound up being the deciding victory that clinched the No. 2 seed in the NACC Tournament for Lakeland. Nelson also hit a home run in the first game against MSOE, finishing with a cycle for the day over the two games.

A four-year starter who has started and played in every game but one over her four-year career, Nelson this year is having her finest season yet, hitting .435 with 57 hits, nine doubles, three triples, three home runs, 30 RBIs, 35 runs scored and seven stolen bases. She leads the Muskies in hits, runs scored and homers and is second on the team in batting average and RBIs and tied for second in doubles. "Nelly" also has pitched in 14 games, including 13 in relief, and holds a 5-1 record with a 2.61 earned run average and two saves.

Nelson also has put together one of the most prolific careers of a Lakeland softball player in school history, and enters this weekend's NACC Tournament in the top five all-time at the school in a host of categories. She is third in school history in hits (182), fourth in runs (124), doubles (28) and walks (46), tied for fourth in stolen bases (38) and sixth in triples (12).

Nelson is the third Lakeland softball player to receive an NACC weekly honor this season. Skylar Hall (Sr.-Negaunee, Mich.) was tabbed as the conference's pitcher of the week March 17, and Juliana Hall (Sr.-Portage, Ind.) received the weekly position player honor March 31.

Lakeland opens play in the NACC Tournament Friday night against an opponent yet to be determined at 6:30 p.m. in Montgomery, Ill.