NM STATE’S ROTHER, GCU’S SEPULVEDA NAMED WAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
New Mexico State’s Lacey Rother and Grand Canyon’s Kiki Sepulveda have been named the Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, April 7-13. This is the second honor of the season and her career for Rother and the first-ever honor for Sepulveda.
Rother, a junior outfielder/catcher from Long Beach, Calif., went a perfect 5-for-5 at the plate with two home runs, six RBI and six walks last week. She reached base in each of her 11 plate appearances and drew her fist career intentional walk in a 17-2 win over Bakersfield on Saturday. Rother had a home run in each of Friday’s doubleheader games. In the series finale on Saturday, she tied the WAC and New Mexico State records for walks in a single game with four. Rother posted a 2.200 slugging percentage and a 1.000 on-base percentage in her three games last week.
Sepulveda, a senior right-hander from Corona, Calif., went 1-0 with a save and a 0.00 ERA in a pair of relief appearances last week. She did not allow a hit in a combined 3.2 innings of work, striking out two and walking one. In the second game of a doubleheader at Utah Valley last Friday, Sepulveda entered in the sixth inning with the Antelopes leading 4-3 but with runners on second and third. She retired the next two batters to get out of the inning. In the series finale, she entered the game in the bottom of the fourth with her team trailing 3-2. Sepulveda retired all six batters she faced as Grand Canyon won 14-4.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees included: Grand Canyon’s Claire Zampini hit .556 with two RBI last week ... Aly Zembruski of Kansas City hit .556 with a double and one RBI on the week ... Seattle U’s Bubba Morrow hit .538 with a double, a homer and four RBI last week ... Brittney Vansway of Utah Valley hit .286 with a home run and four RBI on the week.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees included: New Mexico State’s Makayla McAdams went 1-0 with a 1.00 ERA on the week ... Lindsay Davis of Seattle U went 2-0 with a 2.15 ERA and three strikeouts in 13.0 innings of work.
NM STATE BREAKS WAC RECORD FOR RUNS IN AN INNING
The Aggies set the record for runs in an inning in a WAC game with 17 in the first inning of the series finale against Bakersfield on April 12. The Aggies plated 17 runs on 11 singles, six walks, two players hit by a pitch and one error. The previous record for runs in an inning was 13 by Hawai‘i against Nevada during the 2010 season.
UTAH VALLEY’S ROBINSON BECOMES ALL-TIME HOME RUN LEADER
In the series finale against Grand Canyon on April 12, senior Amanda Robinson became Utah Valley’s all-time leader in home runs when she connected for her 32nd career homer in the fourth inning. The senior passed former Wolverine great Amanda Perez (2009-2012), who previously held the top spot with 31 career home runs.
NM STATE’S ROTHER TIES WAC RECORD FOR WALKS IN A GAME
New Mexico State senior outfielder/catcher Lacey Rother tied the WAC record for walks in a game with four, including one intentional walk, in the series finale against Bakersfield on April 12. She is tied with six other players for the record.
SEATTLE U, UTAH VALLEY SET SIX WAC SEASON HIGHS IN HIGH SCORING AFFAIR
In the series finale between Seattle U and Utah Valley on April 5, which the Wolverines won 13-12, the two teams combined to set six WAC season highs – runs scored (25), hits (29), RBI (19), doubles (9), total bases (53) and walks (11). In addition, Utah Valley tied the league’s season high with 17 hits in the game and Wolverine Debra Lovell tied the WAC single-game mark this season with 10 total bases. Seattle U’s Lisa Maulden tied the WAC single-game record in conference games with four runs scored.
UVU’S LAUVAI HITS TWO HOMERS AGAINST WEBER STATE
Utah Valley sophomore infielder Dynasty Lauvai produced the first multi-home run game of her career when she went deep in the first and seventh innings of the first game of a doubleheader vs. Weber State on March 19.
GCU POSTS WAC SEASON-HIGH 17 HITS VS. SANTA CLARA
Grand Canyon had a WAC season-high 17 hits against Santa Clara on March 22, as every Antelope that played tallied at least one hit. Haley Walker led the team with four hits, Claire Zampini had three and Kayla Henry, Stephanie Pesqueira and Kylie Shull tallied two hits apiece.
UVU’S SUMMERS THROWS WAC’S FIRST NO-HITTER IN 2014
Josi Summers threw her first career no-hitter as Utah Valley topped Albany by a score of 3-0 on March 13. The senior threw all seven innings, striking out eight Great Danes and allowing no hits for her first no-hitter in a Wolverine uniform and the first no-no thrown in the WAC this season.
UVU’S GATLIN POSTS TWO FIVE-RBI GAMES AT TOURNAMENT
Utah Valley freshman utility player Brianna Gatlin had five RBI against Howard on March 14. It was her second five-RBI performance at the Rebel Spring Games, as she drove in five against Saint Peter’s on March 9.
SEATTLE U POSTS DI RECORD SEVEN-GAME WIN STREAK
Seattle U posted a seven-game win streak from Feb. 22 to March 2. The last time the Redhawks won seven in a row was during the 2008 season at the Division II level, when the team won 11 straight games to open the season.
NM STATE SETS SCHOOL RECORD FOR HOME RUNS IN A GAME
In its 14-5 five-inning win over Seton Hall on Feb. 28, New Mexico State hit a school record seven home runs. Fiana Finau and Staci Rodriguez hit a pair of home runs apiece, while Lacey Rother, Kelsey Dodd and Tatum Reedy added one homer each. It was the fourth time this season the Aggies had 10 or more RBI in a game.
GCU’S WARTMAN POSTS 15-GAME HITTING STREAK
Grand Canyon freshman infielder Camree Wartman posted a WAC-best 15-game hitting streak from Feb. 7-23. Included in the streak were hits in two games against No. 24 Arizona and one against No. 4 Alabama, as well as six multi-hit games.
NEW MEXICO STATE PICKED TO WIN 2014 WAC TITLE
In a preseason vote of the six WAC coaches, New Mexico State was selected as the preseason favorite to win the title. The Aggies took the top spot 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.