NM STATE’S RODRIGUEZ, GRAND CANYON’S REGESTER NAMED WAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
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. Rodriguez 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. Regester earned wins over Tennessee State and New Mexico while also making two relief appearances against No. 24 Arizona. For the week, she 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: Camree Wartmann of Grand Canyon hit .363 with four runs, three RBI and a triple in six games ... Kansas City’s Caitlin Christopher hit .250 with two home runs and nine RBI over five games ... Lisa Maulden of Seattle U hit .476 with two home runs, 10 hits and six RBI.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees included: Katie Kelley of Kansas City went 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA and six strikeouts over 14.0 innings ... New Mexico State’s Celisha Walker went 1-1 with a 2.90 ERA and six strikeouts in 12.0 innings of work.
POWERS PICKS UP 250TH CAREER WIN
Seattle U head coach Dan Powers picked up his 250th career victory on Feb. 16 in a 4-2 win over Akron. In his 11th season at the helm, Powers has a 250-250-1 (.500) career record.
NEW MEXICO STATE POSTS BACK-TO-BACK WALK-OFF WINS
New Mexico State posted a pair of walk-off wins on Feb. 15 over Northern Colorado and Iowa State. The first was a walk-off grand slam by junior Staci Rodriguez for the 4-3 win over the Bears followed by a walk-off single by sophomore Brennalyn Nakamura to beat the Cyclones 5-4.
GRAND CANYON’S WARTMAN ON 10-GAME HITTING STREAK
Grand Canyon freshman infielder Camree Wartman is currently on a 10-game hitting streak, twice that of the next closest player in the conference. After not getting a hit in the season opener against East Carolina, Wartman has posted a hit in 10 straight games, including hits in two games against No. 24 Arizona and one against No. 4 Alabama. She also has four games with two hits during that streak and is leading the team with a .378 batting average on the season.
RETURNING ALL-CONFERENCE PLAYERS
Three of the first team All-WAC players from last year return for the 2014 season in New Mexico State’s Staci Rodriguez, the reigning WAC Player of the Year, and Seattle U’s Bubba Morrow and Isabella Geronimo. New Mexico State’s Emma Adams and Malena Padilla are the lone returners from the second team.
Bakersfield’s Shay Fryer and Karissa Veiga were named first team All-Pacific Coast Softball Conference (PCSC) last year, while Amber Mills was named to the second team and Kelsie Monroe was an honorable mention honoree. Utah Valley’s Amanda Robinson was named first team All-PCSC, while teammate Jamie North was named to the second team and Kelli Fox and Josi Summers were honorable mention honorees.
Katie Kelley of Kansas City was named first team All-Summit League. Meanwhile, Grand Canyon’s Stephanie Pesqueira, Kayla Henry and Claire Zampini were named first team All-PacWest, with Pesqueira also earning Pitcher of the Year honors. Teammates Kiki Sepulveda, and Kailey Regester were named second team All-PacWest, while Lauren Regester and Nicole Newbury were third team selections.
NEW MEXICO STATE PICKED TO WIN 2014 WAC TITLE
In a preseason vote of the six WAC softball coaches, who could not vote for their own team, New Mexico State was selected as the preseason favorite to win the title. The Aggies took the top spot in the preseason poll with 25 points and five first-place votes, followed by Seattle U in second place with 19 points and the other first-place vote. Utah Valley was third with 14 points, just ahead of Bakersfield in fourth place with 13 points. Kansas City and Grand Canyon rounded out the poll with 10 and nine points, respectively.
SEATTLE U TO HOST 2014 WAC TOURNAMENT
Seattle U will host the 2014 WAC Softball Tournament. The five eligible teams will advance to the double-elimination tournament, which will be held at Logan Field May 8-10. It is the first time the Redhawks have hosted the event.