DENVER Tulsas Stephanie Sliepen and Fresno States Jamie Southern have been named the Western Athletic Conference Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively. Both are earning their first player of the week honors this season. Southern earned Pitcher of the Week honors three times last season and Player of the Week once.
Sliepen, a junior from St. Charles, Mo., (Francis Howell North), recorded a pair of three-run home runs, en route to a 1.333 slugging percentage. She led the Golden Hurricane to a 3-0 record, including a win over host school Mississippi. She posted a .727 on-base percentage after going 6-for-6 on Feb. 14. She leads the team in hits with nine.
Southern, a junior from Clovis, Calif., (Clovis), went 3-0 with three shutout victories. She threw a perfect game against No. 18 Texas A&M, notching her fourth career no-hitter and third career perfect game. She struck out 15 Aggies to tie a single-game school record for most strikeouts in a seven-inning game. The junior opened the year with a one-hitter against UMass, while fanning six. She recorded her second shutout victory over Western Michigan and picked up first 10-strikeout game of the year with 11. She struck out 32 for 11.79 strikeouts per seven innings in three starts
Other player of the week nominees included: Veronica Green, Fresno State; Stacey Ritter, Hawaii; Jessica Aycock, Louisiana Tech; Stacy Mueller, Nevada; Courtney Lewis, San Jose State.
Other pitcher of the week nominees included: Judith van Kampen, Nevada; Kelli McCollister, San Jose State; Renee DiPuccio, UTEP and Amy Day, Tulsa.