SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Mercer’s Natalie Shiver and Samford’s Mollie Hanson have been named the Southern Conference Softball Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, the league announced Monday. The selections are made by the Southern Conference office.

Shiver hit .538 with five extra base hits, including two home runs, on the opening weekend of the 2015 season as Mercer went 4-1 and claimed the Mercer Invitational Championship on Sunday. The junior catcher went 4-for-6 with three runs and four RBIs in two games on Opening Day. She finished the weekend going 3-for-7 over the last three games with three runs and three RBIs.

Overall, Shiver totaled seven hits with six runs and seven RBIs while drawing six walks and striking out just once. The native of Leesburg, Ga. recorded her best performance of the weekend on Friday, going 2-for-4 with a triple, a homer, two runs and an RBI. It is the first weekly honor for Shiver as Mercer competes in its first season in the Southern Conference.

Hanson went 2-0 with a save in 13.0 innings pitched on the opening weekend, as the Bulldogs went 4-1 to start the 2015 campaign. The red-shirt junior allowed five earned runs on eight hits over three appearances with eight strikeouts to just one walk.

Hanson tossed a one-hit shutout in the season opener against Miami (Ohio) on Friday, pitching 5.0 scoreless innings with four strikeouts and no walks. She then earned a save in game two of a doubleheader on Saturday, pitching a perfect frame against Loyola-Chicago to close out a 5-4 win for the Bulldogs. The native of Dothan, Ala. receives the weekly honor for the second time in her career.

­Also nominated for Player of the Week: Megan Dowdy (Samford), Sarah Beth Roberts (Chattanooga)

Also nominated for Pitcher of the Week: Riley Carter (Mercer), Taylor Deason (Chattanooga)

2015 Softball Players of the Week
Feb. 9 - Natalie Shiver, Mercer

2015 Softball Pitchers of the Week
Feb. 9 - Mollie Hanson, Samford