DENVER – New Mexico State’s Staci Rodriguez and Grand Canyon’s Kailey Regester have been named the Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for Feb. 10-16. This is the first honor of the season and fourth of her career for Rodriguez and the first-ever honor for Regester.
Rodriguez, a junior outfielder from Paramount, Calif., hit .333 with five RBI, three runs scored and two home runs at the Troy Cox Classic last week. She opened the tournament with a double up the middle in her first at-bat. In a game against Northern Colorado, the Aggies trailed 3-0 in the bottom of the seventh when she hit a walk-off grand slam to give New Mexico State a 4-3 victory. Rodriguez added another solo home run in a 5-4 win over Iowa State. She ended the weekend with an .800 slugging percentage and also drew three walks during the tournament.
Regester, a sophomore pitcher from Chandler, Ariz., was 2-0 over the weekend at the Hillenbrand Invitational in Tucson, Ariz. She earned wins over Tennessee State and New Mexico while also making two relief appearances against No. 24 Arizona. For the week, Regester had an ERA of 1.53, struck out six and walked just three batters. Against Arizona, she gave up no runs and just one hit over 6.2 innings of work.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees included: Grand Canyon’s Camree Wartmann hit .363 with four runs, three RBI and a triple in six games ... Caitlin Christopher of Kansas City hit .250 with two home runs and nine RBI over five games ... Seattle U’s Lisa Maulden hit .476 with two home runs, 10 hits and six RBI.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees included: Kansas City’s Katie Kelley went 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA and six strikeouts over 14.0 innings ... Celisha Walker of New Mexico State went 1-1 with a 2.90 ERA and six strikeouts in 12.0 innings of work.