UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) announced the six men and six women student-athletes receiving the 2026 GLIAC Spring Commissioner's Award honor on Wednesday morning. Saginaw Valley State University softball pitcher Macy Irelan was among the names listed on the women's side.

Irelan joins Madi Bajis from women's soccer (Fall winner) and Lexi Hieber from women's swimming and diving (Winter winner) as SVSU's Commissioner's Award recipients for 2025-26.

"Macy put together another outstanding season in the circle. She is undefeated in conference play and finds a way to work out of any situation that might present itself," lauded Schalk. "In my opinion, she has become a more complete pitcher this year. She is a competitor and typically will find a way to beat the hitter that is standing in the batter's box."

Irelan adds GLIAC Commissioner's Award honors to her stellar second season with Saginaw Valley State Softball. Irelan appeared in 28 games and recorded 22 starts in the circle for the Cardinals in her second season with the team. She finished the year with a 17-5 record with two saves and 15 complete games, while pitching in 153.2 innings. During those appearances, she surrendered 44 earned runs while leading the team in strikeouts (151) for the second-straight season.

The 2025 GLIAC Pitcher of the Year recorded a team-best 6.88 strikeouts-per-seven-innings and finished the season with a 2.00 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP, while ranking in the top 25 of D2 in WHIP (19^th) and Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio (24^th) with 3.97.

Irelan had three games with double-digit strikeouts (at #23 Barry Feb. 7 – 10 K, at Davenport Mar. 22 – 13 K, and Purdue Northwest Apr. 26 – 10 K), registering a season-high of 13 strikeouts at Davenport on March 22. She earned first team All-GLIAC honors for the second-consecutive season as well as D2CCA and NFCA first-team All-Midwest Region nods.

The Owosso, Michigan native, added College Sports Communicators Academic All-District® honors to her resume for her work on the diamond and the classroom.

The awards are bestowed after the fall, winter, and spring athletic seasons to six female and six male student-athletes of junior, senior, or graduate student status that excel both in the classroom and in competition. All grade-point averages are based on a 4.0 scale.