NM STATE’S RODRIGUEZ, LA TECH’S JONES NAMED WAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
New Mexico State’s Staci Rodriguez and Louisiana Tech’s Michelle Jones have been named the Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for Feb. 11-17. This is the first-ever honor for Rodriguez and the first of the season and second of her career for Jones.
Rodriguez, a sophomore outfielder from Paramount, Calif., led the Aggies at the plate last week with a .400 batting average, a .840 slugging percentage and a .429 on-base percentage. She was 10-for-25 with two doubles, three home runs, a sacrifice fly, two walks and an astounding 13 RBI. Rodriguez posted three multi-hit games and had a hit in six of the team’s seven games last week. In a win over UTEP, she finished with two hits, including a home run, and four RBI. She had her best game against Colorado State on Sunday, when she went 3-for-4 with three RBI and a stand-up double.
Jones, a senior from Scurry, Texas, went 2-1 with a 1.75 ERA and 19 strikeouts. She held opponents to a .155 batting average while leading the Lady Techsters to a 4-1 record at the Cowgirl Classic last weekend. Jones threw a pair of complete-game shutouts, including her first career no-hitter and the first no-hitter in the WAC this season. In a 2-0 extra-inning win over McNeese State, she allowed only two hits and no walks while striking out seven. In Tech’s 10-0 five-inning win over Alcorn State, Jones allowed no hits and one walk while striking out seven.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees included: Louisiana Tech’s Erin Kipp hit .500 with three doubles, a homer and seven RBI ... Markesha Collins of San Jose State hit .429 with a double, three home runs and nine RBI ... UT Arlington’s Meagan Michele hit .538 with a homer and three RBI ... Megan Low of UTSA hit .538 with three doubles, two home runs and six RBI ... Utah State’s Rachael Hunsaker hit .273 with one double and one RBI.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees included: New Mexico State’s Makayla McAdams went 1-1 on the week ... Amanda Pridmore of San Jose State posted 28 strikeouts on the week ... Teri Lyles of UT Arlington went 3-0 with a 1.26 ERA and 17 strikeouts ... Texas State’s Ashley Wright went 2-0 with a 2.47 ERA and eight strikeouts last week.
SJSU’S PRIDMORE RECORDS 500TH STRIKEOUT
San Jose State senior Amanda Pridmore recorded her 500th career strikeout Feb. 17 in her team’s 10-4 win over Idaho State. With 501 strikeouts on her career, Pridmore needs 144 more to surpass Carol Forbes (2002-05) as the Spartans’ career strikeout leader.
NM STATE’S OLIVE ON 10-GAME HITTING STREAK
After failing to get a hit in the first game of the season, New Mexico State senior Amber Olive has posted a hit in 10 straight games. What’s more, two of her 18 hits were triples making her the WAC’s active career leader (5).
UTSA’S LOW HAS FIRST MULTI-HOMER GAME
UTSA sophomore catcher Megan Low recorded her first multi-homer game and had a career-high four RBI against Rutgers on Feb. 16. Low had a hit in all five games last week to extend her hitting streak to seven games.
NM STATE’S RODRIGUEZ HITS GRAND SLAM, HOMER IN CONSECUTIVE AT BATS
New Mexico State outfielder Staci Rodriguez hit her first career grand slam in an 8-1 win over Illinois-Chicago on Feb. 8. The sophomore then came back in her next at bat and hit a solo home run. She had five homers last season.
UTSA’S TIJERINA HITS PAIR OF HOMERS IN LAMAR FINALE
After playing in just seven games last season with 11 at-bats, UTSA sophomore Vivian Tijerina led the way last weekend with a .625 batting average and 1.375 slugging percentage. She hit a pair of homers in Sunday’s series finale to become the first Roadrunner to have a multi-homer game since Jori Fox on April 22, 2011.
LOUISIANA TECH TO HOST 2013 TOURNAMENT
Louisiana Tech will host the 2013 WAC Softball Tournament. The top six teams will advance to the double-elimination tournament, which will be held at the Lady Techsters Softball Complex from May 7-10. It is the first time the Lady Techsters have hosted the event.
Second-seeded Brigham Young claimed its first-ever WAC Tournament title last season in Las Cruces, N.M., to earn the WAC’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
TEXAS STATE PICKED TO WIN 2013 WAC TITLE
In a preseason vote of the WAC softball coaches, league newcomer Texas State edged out San Jose State by one point to win the 2013 WAC regular-season crown. The Bobcats took the top spot in the preseason poll with 43 points and five first-place votes, just ahead of San Jose State in second place with 42 points and two first-place votes. New Mexico State was third with 39 points and one first-place vote. UTSA came in fourth place with 30 points, followed by Louisiana Tech in fifth with 22 points and Utah State in sixth with 20 points. UT Arlington and Seattle U rounded out the poll with 15 and 13 points, respectively.