DENVER –
New Mexico State’s Tiare Jennings and Hawai`i’s Kaia Parnaby have been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for April 11-17. This is the second honor of the season and third of her career for Jennings and the second honor of the season and third of her career for Parnaby.
Jennings, a junior outfielder from Turlock, Calif. (Pitman HS), led NM State to a 3-0 record against Nevada last week, going 9-for-12 with a double, four home runs and 11 RBI. She posted a .750 batting average, a .786 on-base percentage and a 1.833 slugging percentage. She hit two home runs in game one of the series and hit one homer in each of the doubleheader games Saturday. Jennings has now hit a home run in seven of her last nine games. With her four homers last week, she moved into second place all-time at New Mexico State with 39 career round trippers.
Parnaby, a sophomore from Bilgola Plateau, NSW, Australia, went 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in one appearance last week. In a 4-0 complete-game win over Louisiana Tech, she scattered four hits and tied her career high with 12 strikeouts, including the first seven batters she faced. It was her fourth shutout and 13th complete game of the season.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees included: Boise State’s Mackenzie Whyte hit .545 with a pair of doubles on the week … Andrea Ortega of Fresno State hit .700 with two doubles on the week … Hawai`i’s Jenna Rodriguez accounted for seven of UH’s 10 runs scored on the week … Kendra Harmon of Louisiana Tech hit .385 last week, including the game-winning homer in a 1-0 win over Hawai`i ... Nevada’s Erin Jones hit .571 with a pair of doubles last week … Krista Bava of Utah State hit .571 with four runs and two RBI on the week.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees included: Fresno State’s Michelle Moses had two complete-game victories against San Jose State … Janna Frandrup of Louisiana Tech threw the first-ever shutout by a LA Tech pitcher against Hawai`i last week.