Blank, Akers Earn All-Tournament Honors

Feb. 12, 2012

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WACO, Texas — Freshman Megan Blank and junior Ashley Akers of the University of Iowa softball team were selected to the Getterman Classic All-Tournament team. It is the first career all-tournament team honor for both players.

Blank, a freshman from Culver City, Calif., earned the recognition after batting a team-best.583 with seven hits in 12 at-bats to go along with a team-high six runs in her first collegiate tournament.

Blank tallied four walks and a stolen base in Iowa’s season-opening win over Wichita State, while tallying five assists defensively. The shortstop finished the weekend on a three-game hitting streak.

She finished 3-for-3 with a run and RBI against Arkansas, 2-for-3 with a double and run against UT-Arlington and 2-for-3 with two runs scored against Belmont. Blank batted leadoff for Iowa in all five games and started each game at shortstop.

Akers, a junior from Tiffin, Iowa, posted a .500 batting average, collecting six hits in 12 at-bats. The outfielder also finished with one RBI, one stolen base and three sacrifices in Iowa’s five games.

Akers had a pair of multi-hit games, finishing 2-for-3 with two runs against the Shockers and 2-for-3 against Arkansas.

The Hawkeyes posted a 3-2 record in the tournament, finishing with victories over Wichita State, UT-Arlington and Belmont. Two of the wins came via the run-rule in five innings.

Iowa returns to action Friday afternoon, playing Illinois State in its opener at the Littlewood Classic in Tempe, Ariz.