DENVER – Fresno State’s Andrea Ortega and Mackenzie Oakes have been named the Verizon Wireless Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for March 8-14. This is the first-ever honor for both.
Ortega, a sophomore outfielder from Scottsdale, Ariz., hit .478 with a .696 slugging percentage and .500 on-base percentage over seven games last week. She was 11-for-23 with two doubles, a home run and nine RBI. During the five games of the Bayer CropScience Tournament, she hit a team-high .500 with nine hits and eight RBI. She had at least two hits in each of the last four games, including two doubles vs. Cal State Northridge. She had one walk, no strikeouts and no errors as the ‘Dogs went 4-1 at the tournament. She was named to the all-tournament team as the leading overall hitter in the tournament.
Oakes, a sophomore from Bakersfield, Calif., went 2-0 in 17.2 innings on work. On the week, she allowed just 10 hits, five runs and three walks and struck out 13 batters. She was named MVP of the Bayer CropScience Tournament after throwing the first perfect game of her career in a 3-0 win over Georgetown Saturday night. It was the first perfect game by a Bulldog pitcher since March 25, 2005. It was the second no-hitter of the season for Oakes, who becomes the first Bulldog since Robin Mackin in 2006 to throw two no-hitters in one year and the first since Jamie Southern in 2005 to throw a perfect game and a no-hitter in the same season.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees included: Boise State’s Kathy Cox hit .455 with two RBI last week … Jessica Iwata of Hawai`i hit .435 with four doubles and six RBI on the week … Kortnee Wiley of Nevada hit .556 with two doubles and six RBI on the week … New Mexico State’s Hoku Nohara hit .462 with three doubles and six RBI last week ... Sarah Taylor of San Jose State hit .529 with two doubles and one homer on the week ... Utah State’s Simone Hubbard hit .385 on the week.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees included: Boise State’s Allie Crump earned the Broncos’ only win of the weekend over North Dakota … Stephanie Ricketts of Hawai`i went 4-0 with a 2.24 ERA last week … Nevada’s Mallary Darby went 2-0 on the week with a 0.58 ERA … Carissa Theis of New Mexico State went 1-0 with a 0.81 ERA during two appearances last week … San Jose State’s Amanda Pridmore posted a 0.00 ERA and 14 strikeouts on the week.