NEW MEXICO STATE’S FINAU, DONISTHORPE NAMED WAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
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.
TWO NO-HITTERS THROWN IN THE WAC IN 2015
There have been two no-hitters thrown in the WAC this season. Utah Valley sophomore Bailey Moore threw Utah Valley’s second no-hitter in program history on March 21 against neighboring Brigham Young. Bakersfield’s Kelsie Monroe repeated the feat against Cal Poly on March 24, when she threw the first non-combined no-hitter for CSUB since the program moved to NCAA Division I in 2007.
NM STATE’S FINAU TIES PROGRAM RECORD FOR CONSECUTIVE GAMES WITH A HOMER
New Mexico State junior Fiana Finau has hit a home run in five straight games – against Arizona on March 21, at New Mexico on March 24 and in all three of the WAC games against Utah Valley on March 27-28 – to tie a school record. Tiare Jennings accomplished the feat as a junior in 2011. The NCAA record is seven games.
GRAND CANYON KEEPS WAC SERIES WIN STREAK ALIVE
Grand Canyon took two of three games from Seattle U last weekend to pick up its first conference series win of the season. Dating back to last season, which was GCU’s first in the WAC and at the Division I level, the Lopes have yet to lose a WAC series.
SU’S MORROW TIES PROGRAM CAREER DOUBLES RECORD
Seattle U senior Bubba Morrow hit her 32nd career double down the right field line in the top of the third inning at Loyola Marymount on March 23 to move into a tie for first place in the Seattle U record books. Morrow is tied with Allegra Wilde (2010-13) for the record.
NM STATE RANKS IN TOP 50 IN SIX OFFENSIVE CATEGORIES
New Mexico State currently ranks in the top 15 nationally in six offensive categories. The Aggies are seventh nationally in batting average (.356), eighth in slugging percentage (.613) and scoring (7.76), 10th in doubles per game (1.84), and 11th in both home runs per game (1.58) and on-base percentage (.447).
BAKERSFIELD SETS PROGRAM DI RECORD FOR TRIPLES IN A GAME
During the second game of the Boise State doubleheader on March 15, Bakersfield’s Alexandrea Simmons led off the third inning with her second triple of the day, while Jo Larios’ three bagger was the second of the game for the ‘Runners, a CSUB single-game Division I record. In that game, CSUB also earned its first run-rule win since March 10, 2012, a 12-3 win over Maine.
GCU HAS SEASON-BEST 17 HITS AGAINST LOYOLA MARYMOUNT
Grand Canyon tallied a season-best 17 hits in its run-rule victory over Loyola Marymount on March 13. Seven Lopes had multiple hits in the game, led by Kayla Henry and Bianca Boling with three apiece.
UMKC’S KELLEY SETS PROGRAM RECORD FOR RBIS IN A GAME
Missouri-Kansas City’s Katie Kelley set program marks for RBI in a single game with seven against Connecticut on March 7 and RBI over a five-game span with 16 from March 6-8.
CSUB’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.
BAKERSFIELD’S MONROE BECOMES ALL-TIME WINS LEADER
With a complete-game shutout of Pacific on Feb. 28, Bakersfield’s Kelsie Monroe set the CSUB Division I record for career wins with 25. She now has 29. She also became the CSUB Division I all-time leader in innings pitched earlier this season and currently has 490.2. Earlier this season, Monroe posted five straight complete-game wins, including three shutouts.
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 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 New Mexico State 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.
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, 10 returned for the 2015 season, including reigning WAC Player of the Year Lacey Rother of New Mexico State. Also returning was Rother’s teammate Fiana Finau; 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 returned in 2015, including four from NM State (Emma Adams, Makayla McAdams, Brennalyn Nakamura and Staci Rodriguez). Also returning were 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 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 (2010, 2012).