WEST BABYLON, N.Y. – The East Coast Conference recognized three student-athletes with weekly awards after outstanding individual performances last week for LIU Post. Baseball's James Varela garnered Pitcher of the Week, while softball's Abbey Fortin earned Player of the Week and men's lacrosse's Jake Gillis was named Rookie of the Week.
 
Varela garnered his third ECC Pitcher of the Week honor of the season after a dominant performance against Assumption College on Friday, March 15. He earned the win for the Pioneers, striking out 14 while only allowing one run and one walk over eight innings in LIU Post's 3-1 victory. Varela improves to 2-2 on the year with a conference-best 48 strikeouts over 36.0 innings and also lowered his earned run average to 1.50, the third best mark in the league.
 
Gillis also earns his third conference award of the year after tallying six points in the Pioneers' ECC-opening win against Saint Thomas Aquinas on Wednesday, March 13. During the victory, Gillis scored three goals and dished out three assists. His 15 goals currently ranks eighth in the conference.
 
Fortin capped off LIU Post's weekly award winners after hitting .556 with two home runs and five runs batted in. Along with the blistering bat, Fortin compiled a .667 on-base percentage. Her four RBI against New Haven led the Pioneers to a 4-3 victory against the Chargers and she added a solo home run against Adelphi.