DENVER – New Mexico State’s Fiana Finau and Grand Canyon’s Taylor Nowlin have been named the Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for March 9-15. This is the first honor of the season and third of her career for Finau, and the first honor of the season and second of her career for Nowlin.
Finau, a junior from Chula Vista, Calif., finished with a .444 batting average, a 1.000 slugging percentage and a .524 on-base percentage in six games last week, posting a double, three home runs, 11 RBIs and a stolen base. Finau began the week by slamming a home run and finishing with three RBIs against Middle Tennessee. She then went 3-for-4 with two RBIs vs. Harvard. Finau’s big game of the week came in the final one of the weekend, a 14-0 Aggie victory over San Jose State. She finished 2-for-3 against the Spartans with two home runs, three runs scored and six RBIs.
Nowlin, a sophomore from Peoria, Ariz., was sharp in the circle over the weekend, fanning 21 and allowing just one earned run in 16.2 innings of work. The left-hander finished the weekend with a 2-1 record and posted an impressive 0.42 ERA. In her first win of the week, she had nine strikeouts against Loyola Marymount. In her second victory, she allowed just one hit over 5 1/3 innings while striking out six. Nowlin has held opponents to a WAC-low .222 batting average this season.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees included: Bakersfield’s Alexandrea Simmons hit .545 with a double and two triples last week ... Kelsey Barak of Grand Canyon hit .478 with four doubles and 10 RBIs ... Missouri-Kansas City’s Cinda Ramos hit .444 with a double, two homers and five RBIs ... Isabella Geronimo of Seattle U hit .714 with a stolen base and three RBIs in a doubleheader against Notre Dame de Namur ... Utah Valley’s Brianna Gatlin hit .467 with a double and a home run over five games.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees included: Bakersfield’s Kelsie Monroe went 2-0 with a 0.50 ERA and six strikeouts over 14.0 innings ... Karysta Donisthorpe of New Mexico State went 2-0 with a 0.55 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 12.2 innings on the week ... Seattle U’s Mandie Sugita went 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA and five strikeouts in 8.2 innings against Notre Dame de Namur ... Makayla Shadle of Utah Valley went 1-0 with a 0.84 ERA and seven strikeouts in 8.1 innings of work.