DENVER – New Mexico State’s Fiana Finau and Karysta Donisthorpe have been named the Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for March 23-29. This is the second honor of the season and fourth of her career for Finau, and the third honor of the season and fourth of her career for Donisthorpe.
Finau, a junior from Chula Vista, Calif., went 6-of-14 in four games last week with five extra-base hits for a .429 batting average. She hit a home run in each of the four games and posted 11 RBIs and a 1.357 slugging percentage. Finau began the week by hitting a long ball to cap off a four-run inning against instate rival New Mexico. She then continued her home run streak by hitting a long ball in each game of a three-game series versus WAC opponent Utah Valley, including a walk-off homer in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader. Finau now has hit a home run in five-straight games to tie a school record.
Donisthorpe, a redshirt junior from Farmington, N.M., went 2-0 with a 1.45 ERA and 17 strikeouts in just 9.2 innings of work last week. Against New Mexico, Donisthorpe used a couple of stints in relief to pitch three complete innings and pick up the win. She struck out six Lobos while only allowing two hits and no runs. As the starter in the first game of the WAC-opening series against Utah Valley, she pitched all but a third of an inning en route to the win to improve to 14-3 on the year. Donisthorpe allowed just four hits and tied a season high by striking out 11 batters. For the week, she limited opponents to a .167 batting average.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees included: Bakersfield’s Madison Bundy hit .556 with five doubles and two RBIs in seven games ... Haley Walker of Grand Canyon hit .583 with a double and three RBIs last week ... Missouri-Kansas City’s Cinda Ramos hit .360 with two doubles, seven RBIs and a stolen base in seven games last week.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees included: Bakersfield’s Kelsie Monroe went 2-2 with a no-hitter and 19 strikeouts in 29.2 innings of work ... Kailey Regester of Grand Canyon went 1-0 with a 1.00 ERA and seven strikeouts in three appearances ... Missouri-Kansas City’s Katie Kelley went 2-0 with a 0.67 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 21.0 innings on the week.