DENVER – San Jose State’s Kelli Fangonilo and Hawai`i’s Stephanie Ricketts have been named the Verizon Wireless Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for March 1-7. This is the first-ever honor for Fangonilo and the first honor of the season and third of her career for Ricketts.
Fangonilo, a senior third baseman/outfielder from Palo Alto, Calif., hit .600 (7-of-15) with a double, one homer, five runs scored and seven RBI in four games last week. After starting the weekend without a hit against Charlotte in game one on Saturday, Fangonilo’s bat broke loose. She had at least two hits in each of the next three games, including a 4-for-4 effort against Sacramento State on Saturday. On Sunday against the Hornets, she was 3-for-4 with five RBI, including a three-run home run. She also scored three runs in the game. Fangonilo wrapped up the weekend with two hits in a 3-2 win over Charlotte as the Spartans improved to 16-5 on the season.
Ricketts, a sophomore from San Jose, Calif., posted a 1.56 ERA in four appearances while holding opponents to a .186 batting average last week. She tied a season high with 10 strikeouts against Seattle on March 5, just one shy of her career high. Ricketts lost a heartbreaking 1-0, eight-inning game to No. 1 Washington in which she fired a three-hitter and lost the game on an error with the international tie-break rules in place. She also came in to earn her first save of the season against East Carolina on Sunday. Against the Pirates, she entered with a runner on second and no outs and proceeded to retire the final six batters in a row, striking out the side in the seventh.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees included: Boise State’s Kathy Cox hit .250 with two home runs last week … Lisamarie Coronado of Fresno State hit .400 with two doubles last week, including one against No. 5 UCLA … Hawai`i’s Melissa Gonzalez hit .500 with seven hits and two stolen bases last week … Meghan Knowles of Louisiana Tech’s hit .462 with a double, a triple, a home run and six RBI on the week … New Mexico State’s Kylie Randall hit .400 with three stolen bases last week ... Tina Ferguson of Utah State hit .500 with one double, one homer and five RBI last week.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees included: Boise State’s Ashley Collier earned the Broncos’ only win of the weekend over Wichita State … Morgan Melloh of Fresno State went 1-1 with a complete-game win over Wisconsin … Louisiana Tech’s Meghan Krieg went 3-1 on the week with 32 strikeouts … Torrey Schroeder of New Mexico State allowed one run and two hits over seven innings of work at the Eller Media Stadium Tournament over the weekend … San Jose State’s Amanda Pridmore posted a 2.44 ERA and five strikeouts on the week.