Washington U. Has Five Student-Athletes Earn UAA Athlete of the Week Honors

St. Louis, Mo., February 25, 2013 – Washington University in St. Louis had five student-athletes earn University Athletic Association (UAA) Athlete of the Week honors, it was announced Monday by the conference office.

Junior outfielder Kyle Billig and senior pitcher Stephen Bonser  of the baseball team, freshman pitcher/infielder Brooke Hofer of the softball team, sophomore Matt Nutter of the men’s swimming & diving team and junior Theresa Petraskova of the women’s tennis team.

Billig batted .500 (8-for-16) with a double and four RBIs as the leadoff hitter for Washington University in the Bears' first three games of the season. In a 3-2 10-inning win over No. 10 Webster University Saturday, he had a hand in all three of the Bears' runs. Billig drove in the first run with a single, before coming around to score in the inning. He had the game-winning RBI with a one-out single in the 10th inning. Over the weekend Billig had two stolen bases, giving him 71 in his career, which ranks second all-time at WUSTL.

Bonser threw a complete-game two-hitter as Washington U. earned a 3-2 win 10-inning win over No. 10 Webster Saturday. Both hits came in the third inning, before Bonser shut down the Gorloks for the final seven innings to earn his 12th career win. It was also the 12th complete game of his career, and he lowered his career ERA to 3.19 in 24 career appearances. Bonser's five strikeouts brought his career total to 98.

Hofer hit .643 (9-for-14) with six RBIs and recorded a multi-hit game in all four wins for Washington University at the Rhodes College Lynx Classic in Memphis. She went 2-for-5 with a career-high four RBIs in a 13-7 win at Rhodes Sunday, and followed with a 3-for-3 performance and was on base four times in a 7-2 win over Transylvania University Sunday. Hofer also posted a 1-0 record with a 2.42 earned run average on the mound in 8 2/3 innings pitched.

Nutter broke the Washington University school record in the 200 backstroke, clocking a B-cut time of 1:52.01 in a time trial for the event at the Midwest Invitational at the University of Chicago. His time bettered the nine-year-old school record by .44 of a second. Nutter also clocked a career-best time of 52.36 to win the 100 backstroke at the meet. He swam the lead leg of two winning relays for Washington University as well, the 200-free relay (1:24.12) and the 200-medley relay (1:33.06). In addition, Nutter and the 200-medley relay team clocked a B-cut time of 1:32.63 in a time trial over the weekend.

Petraskova posted a 3-1 record in Washington U.'s season-opening matches against No. 10 DePauw University and Case Western Reserve University. She went 2-0 at No. 1 singles on the weekend, and 1-1 at No. 1 doubles. In Washington U.'s season-opener at DePauw, Petraskova defeated ITA Central Region No. 8-ranked Maggie MacPhail 7-5, 6-3 at No. 1 singles. She also won in straight sets (6-2, 6-4) at No. 1 singles over ITA Central Region No. 4-ranked Sara Zargham (Case). Petraskova brought her career singles total to 40 wins and improved her overall career record to 78-42.