UMKC’S KELLEY, NM STATE’S DONISTHORPE NAMED WAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Missouri-Kansas City’s Katie Kelley and New Mexico State’s Karysta Donisthorpe have been named the Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for March 2-8. This is the second WAC Hitter of the Week honor of the season and third of her career for Kelley, and the second WAC Pitcher of the Week honor of the season and third of her career for Donisthorpe.
Kelley, a junior from Coweta, Okla., hit .500 with two doubles, four home runs and an astounding 16 RBI over five games last week. She posted a 1.200 slugging percentage and a .524 on-base percentage. Kelley had a hit in all five games to extend her current hit streak to 10 games. She was 3-for-3 with a double, a homer and three RBIs in an 8-7 loss to host Oklahoma State on Saturday. In a win over Connecticut later that day, she was 4-for-5 with a double, two homers and a program single-game record seven RBIs. She also set the program record for RBIs in a five-game span with 16.
Donisthorpe, a redshirt junior from Farmington, N.M., started three of five games last week for the Aggies, going 2-0 while also picking up New Mexico State’s first save of the season. She appeared in four games, not allowing a run in three of those games while finishing with a 2.14 ERA and 16 strikeouts on the week. Donisthorpe began the week with a complete-game shutout of Tulsa, scattering five hits with only one walk. She then picked up her first save of the season the following day against Tulsa after stepping into the circle to get the final two outs of the contest. Donisthorpe concluded the week by striking out nine batters while not allowing an earned run in a win against North Dakota.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees included: Bakersfield’s Sydney Raeber hit .333 with two doubles and three RBIs last week ... Brennalyn Nakamura of New Mexico State hit .667 with a double, two home runs and nine RBIs as the Aggies went 5-0 last week ... Utah Valley’s Brianna Gatlin hit .467 with two doubles, a homer and five RBIs.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees included: UMKC’s Katie Kelley had a WAC-best 20 strikeouts in 21.2 innings on the week ... Bailey Moore of Utah Valley went 1-0 with nine strikeouts in 19.0 innings of work.
AGGIES EXTEND WIN STREAK TO 10 GAMES
After posting a 5-0 record last weekend at the NM State Round Robin, New Mexico State has now won 10 straight games, dating back to Feb. 26. The Aggies also won all five of their games at the Alexis Park Resort Classic in Las Vegas.
UMKC’S KELLEY SETS PROGRAM RECORD FOR RBIS IN A GAME
Last weekend, Missouri-Kansas City’s Katie Kelley continued her run of offensive production in Stillwater, Okla., setting program marks for RBI in a single game (7) and RBI over a five-game span (16). Over the last two tournaments the ‘Roos have played – a span of nine games – Kelley is hitting .618 (21-for-34) with eight home runs, seven doubles and 24 RBIs. She is currently riding a 10-game hitting streak that began in the final game of the Dot Richardson Invitational on Feb. 15.
BAKERSFIELD’S RAEBER TIES PROGRAM SINGLE-GAME DOUBLES RECORD
Bakersfield junior outfielder Sydney Raeber tied the CSUB Division I record for doubles in a game in Game 1 of the Lobo Classic on March 6. She finished with three doubles against host New Mexico.
NM STATE RANKS SIXTH NATIONALLY IN HOME RUNS PER GAME
In the first set of NCAA statistics that were released March 9, New Mexico State ranked sixth nationally in home runs per game (1.64). The Aggies also rank seventh in slugging percentage (.613), 15th in doubles per game (1.88), 16th in batting average (.352) and on-base percentage (.443) and 47th in winning percentage (.720).
BAKERSFIELD’S MONROE BECOMES ALL-TIME WINS LEADER
With a win complete-game shutout of Pacific on Feb. 28, Bakersfield’s Kelsie Monroe set the CSUB Division I record for career wins with 25. Earlier this season, she became the CSUB Division I all-time leader in innings pitched and currently has 447.0. Monroe recently posted five straight complete-game wins, including three shutouts.
SU’S MORROW APPROACHING CAREER DOUBLES RECORD
Seattle U senior Bubba Morrow has 31 doubles on her career, good for second place all-time in program history. She is two shy of the Seattle U all-time career record of 33 held by Allegra Wilde.
UVU PICKS UP FIRST-EVER WIN OVER RANKED OPPONENT
Behind three home runs and a complete-game shutout from Bailey Moore, Utah Valley handed No. 25 Cal State Fullerton a 9-0 defeat in the Wilson/DeMarini Desert Classic finale on Feb. 15. The win marked UVU’s first in program history over a ranked opponent at the NCAA Division I level.
NM STATE SCORES MOST RUNS EVER AGAINST NEBRASKA
When it defeated No. 18 Nebraska 16-11 on Feb. 6, it was the most runs ever allowed by the Huskers in a game in the 39-year history of the program. The Aggies had 11 extra base hits in the game – five doubles, a triple and five home runs.
NEW MEXICO STATE PICKED TO WIN 2015 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 23 points and three first-place votes, edging out Grand Canyon in second place with 22 points and the other three first-place votes. Seattle U was third with 14 points, while Utah Valley and UMKC tied for fourth place with 13 points each. Bakersfield rounded out the poll with five points.
PRESEASON ALL-WAC TEAM
New Mexico State senior outfielder Staci Rodriguez was selected as the Preseason Player of the Year and Missouri-Kansas City’s Katie Kelley was selected as the Preseason Pitcher of the Year in a vote of the league’s six head coaches, who could not vote for their own players.
New Mexico State placed the most players on the Preseason All-WAC Team with four, while Grand Canyon and Seattle U had three apiece and UMKC had two.
Joining Rodriguez and Kelley on the Preseason All-WAC Team are Grand Canyon’s Kelsey Barak, Kayla Henry and Nicole Newbury; UMKC’s Cinda Ramos; New Mexico State’s Emma Adams, Fiana Finau and Lacey Rother; Seattle U’s Izzy Geronimo, Lisa Maulden and Bubba Morrow; and Utah Valley’s Brittney Vansway.
RETURNING ALL-CONFERENCE PLAYERS
Of the 13 first team All-WAC players from last year, 11 return for the 2015 season, including reigning WAC Player of the Year Lacey Rother of New Mexico State. Also returning are Rother’s teammates Fiana Finau and Alyssa Ruiz; Grand Canyon’s Kelsey Barak, Nicole Newbury and Lauren Regester; Isabella Geronimo, Lisa Maulden and Bubba Morrow of Seattle U; and Missouri-Kansas City’s Katie Kelley and Cinda Ramos.
Nine of the second team All-WAC selections return for 2015, including four from New Mexico State (Emma Adams, Makayla McAdams, Brennalyn Nakamura and Staci Rodriguez). Also returning are Lindsay Davis and Jenny Hurst of Seattle U, Bakersfield’s Madison Bundy, Kayla Henry of Grand Canyon and Utah Valley’s Brittney Vansway.
NEW MEXICO STATE TO HOST 2015 WAC TOURNAMENT
New Mexico State will host the 2015 WAC Softball Tournament. The five eligible teams will advance to the double-elimination tournament, which will be held at the NM State Softball Complex May 7-9. This is the third time the Aggies have hosted the event, as they did so in 2010 and 2012.