WAC Softball Weekly Release - April 28
NEW MEXICO STATE'S DODD, UMKC'S RAMOS NAMED WAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
New Mexico State's Kelsey Dodd and Missouri-Kansas City's Cinda Ramos have been named the Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for April 20-26. This is the first-ever honor for Dodd and the first WAC Pitcher of the Week honor of the season and second of her career for Ramos.
Dodd, a senior first baseman from Clovis, Calif., went 5-for-10 at the plate in a three-game sweep of Grand Canyon that clinched the WAC regular-season title for the Aggies. She finished the week with a 1.100 slugging percentage and .583 on-base percentage with two home runs, three runs scored and four RBIs. Both of Dodd's homers came in the series opener in which New Mexico State came from behind to secure the WAC title. They were home runs No. 30 and 31 of Dodd's career as she became only the seventh player in program history to reach the 30-home run mark. With the Aggies trailing 3-1 in the third, her first homer, a two-run shot, knotted the game at 3-3. Then, with NM State trailing 6-4 in its final at-bat, Dodd hit a solo shot that started a three-run rally which ultimately ended with a walk-off single and a WAC crown.
Ramos, a senior from Olathe, Kan., went 2-0 with a 2.03 ERA last week, guiding UMKC to a sweep of Utah Valley and the No. 2 seed in the WAC Tournament. In three appearances, she posted 10 strikeouts without issuing a walk over 10.1 innings, holding the Wolverines to a .250 batting average. In game one of the series, Ramos entered in relief and allowed just one hit over 2 1/3 innings. She then earned victories in games two and three, scattering nine hits over 8.0 innings and allowing just three earned runs while striking out seven. The wins were her sixth and seventh of the season and she lowered her season ERA from 4.43 to 4.19 last week.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees included: Bakersfield's Selena Gonzalez hit .444 with a home run and four RBIs ... Haley Walker of Grand Canyon hit .556 with one double, one homer and one RBI ... Missouri-Kansas City's Kelsey Goodwin hit .714 with three doubles and two RBIs ... Brittney Vansway of Utah Valley hit .500 with one double, two homers and five RBIs.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees included: Bakersfield's Kelsie Monroe went 1-0 with a 6.75 ERA and nine strikeouts over 9.1 innings ... Dallas McBride of New Mexico State went 2-0 with a save, a 3.89 ERA and eight strikeouts in 9.0 innings of work.
WAC TOURNAMENT TICKETS ON SALE NOW
Tickets for the 2015 WAC Softball Tournament, which will be held May 7-9 at the NM State Softball Complex in Las Cruces, N.M., are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased as an all-session pass, which is good for all eight games (nine if the second game on Saturday is necessary), or as a single-day pass. Tickets can be purchased online at
ticketmaster.com, by phone at (575) 646-1420 or at the NM State Softball Complex all days during the tournament. All-session tickets are $25 for adults and $10 for youth and WAC students. Single day tickets are $12 for adults and $5 for youth and WAC students.
NEW MEXICO STATE CLAIMS WAC REGULAR-SEASON TITLE
New Mexico State won its second WAC regular-season title after sweeping Grand Canyon last weekend. The Aggies finished WAC play with a 14-1 mark, their best conference record in school history. NM State is 40-13 on the season, the first time it has posted 40 wins in a season since 2011, the only other time it won the WAC regular-season title.
THIRTEEN PLAYERS RANK IN TOP IN WAC SINGLE-SEASON TOP RECORDS
Several players made their way into the WAC single-season record books this season in WAC games only. The following are the ranks and categories.
|
Category |
Player |
School |
Rank |
|
Batting average |
Staci Rodriguez |
NM State |
3rd/.523 |
|
Batting average |
Haley Walker |
Grand Canyon |
T-4th/.500 |
|
Batting average |
Haley Nakamura |
NM State |
T-4th/.500 |
|
Slugging percentage |
Kelsey Dodd |
NM State |
9th/.921 |
|
Slugging percentage |
Fiana Finau |
NM State |
10th/.915 |
|
Home runs |
Fiana Finau |
NM State |
T-8th/9 |
|
Stolen bases |
Brooke Parker |
UMKC |
T-10th/12 |
|
Hits per game |
Haley Walker |
Grand Canyon |
2nd/1.80 |
|
Doubles per game |
Lisa Maulden |
Seattle U |
T-7th/0.43 |
|
Home runs per game |
Fiana Finau |
NM State |
1st/0.60 |
|
Home runs per game |
Kelsey Dodd |
NM State |
T-10th/0.43 |
|
RBIs per game |
Fiana Finau |
NM State |
5th/1.47 |
|
RBIs per game |
Camree Wartman |
Grand Canyon |
8th/1.40 |
UMKC'S KELLEY, RAMOS TIE SCHOOL RECORD FOR HITS IN A SEASON
UMKC's Katie Kelley and Cinda Ramos each tied the school's single-season record for hits (65) last weekend. Kelley also owns single-season marks for home runs (15), RBIs (59) and doubles (17) - all of which are active - and is currently on pace to break the single-season record for slugging percentage (.756).
UTAH VALLEY'S SMITH SETS PROGRAM TRIPLES RECORD
With a pair of triples last week, Utah Valley junior Morgan Smith became the program leader in career three-baggers with 10. She passed Rachel Hartgrove and Megan Yocom as they were previously tied for the record with nine.
BAKERSFIELD'S MONROE TIES SINGLE-SEASON WINS RECORD
With a win last week against Seattle U, Bakersfield senior Kelsie Monroe tied the program Division I record for wins in a single season with 14. With at least two games remaining, Monroe needs one more victory to surpass Brittany Johnson's 2008 mark and hold the record outright.
UVU'S VANSWAY SETS SINGLE-SEASON MARK FOR DOUBLE PLAYS
With a double play in the series finale against UMKC last weekend, Utah Valley sophomore second baseman Brittney Vansway set a program single-season record for double plays turned with 19. Junior shortstop Tiani Hensley is right behind her with 18 double plays turned so far this season.
GCU'S BARAK ENDS CAREER RANKED SECOND IN FIVE CATEGORIES
Grand Canyon senior shortstop Kelsey Barak closed out her career ranked second in five program career statistical categories. She ranks second all-time at GCU in home runs (26), doubles (54), RBIs (175), runs (169) and walks (74).
BAKERSFIELD'S MONROE SETS SEVERAL PROGRAM RECORDS
Bakersfield senior Kelsie Monroe posted her sixth shutout of the season and the eighth of her career against New Mexico State on April 18, extending her CSUB Division I records in both categories. She is also the CSUB all-time leader in wins (34), innings pitched (537.2) and complete games (47).
UTAH VALLEY LEADS NATION IN DOUBLE PLAYS PER GAME
For the fourth week in a row, Utah Valley ranks first nationally with 0.69 double plays per game. The Wolverines have 36 double plays through 52 games this season.
NM STATE RANKS IN TOP 25 NATIONALLY IN SIX OFFENSIVE CATEGORIES
New Mexico State ranks in the top 25 nationally in slugging percentage (.599), 10th in both batting average (.346) and scoring (7.22), 11th in home runs per game (1.58) and on-base percentage (.442), and 23rd in doubles per game (1.68). NM State also ranks 27th in winning percentage (.740).
PARKER SETS UMKC'S SINGLE-SEASON STOLEN BASES RECORD
Missouri-Kansas City junior Brooke Parker stole three bases last week to move her season total to 30, improving upon her program record in the category. Earlier this season, she passed the previous record of 24 set by Kelley Fischer in 2011. Parker is already the program's career steals leader with 70 during her three-year career.
NEW MEXICO STATE'S RODOLPH GETS 100TH WAC WIN
With her team's win in the series opener at Bakersfield on April 17, New Mexico State head coach Kathy Rodolph picked up her 100th career WAC victory. In her 10 years in the WAC, Rodolph is 104-82 (.559).
GRAND CANYON HAS TWO GRAND SLAMS IN ONE INNING
In game one of the series against Utah Valley on April 17, Grand Canyon launched three home runs in the third inning, two of which were grand slams by Jenna Coates and Camree Wartman. Grand Canyon became just the sixth team in NCAA Division I history to connect on two grand slams in the same inning.
UVU'S HENSLEY SETS PROGRAM SINGLE-SEASON ASSISTS MARK
Utah Valley junior shortstop Tiani Hensley continues to improve her single-season assist record for UVU with 165. The previous record of 127 was set by Samantha Telarroja in 2010.
GRAND CANYON'S HENRY BECOMES PROGRAM ALL-TIME HITS LEADER
Grand Canyon senior Kayla Henry dropped a two-run single into left field in her team's win over Utah Valley on April 18 to become GCU's all-time career hits leader, surpassing Randi Johns' (2006-09) previous mark of 264. The senior closed out her career with 266 hits in her four-year career.
NM STATE'S FINAU SETS RECORD FOR CONSECUTIVE GAMES WITH A HOMER
New Mexico State junior Fiana Finau hit a home run in six straight games - against Arizona on March 21, at New Mexico on March 24, in all three of the WAC games against Utah Valley on March 27-28 and in the series opener at Seattle U on April 3 - to set a school record. Finau fell just short of the NCAA record of seven games.
NM STATE'S RODRIGUEZ BECOMES SECOND AGGIE EVER WITH 50 HOMERS
New Mexico State senior outfielder Staci Rodriguez belted her 50th career home run, a grand slam in the second game of the series at Seattle U on April 4, to become just the second Aggie ever to reach the milestone. She now has 53 homers on her career, 11 shy of all-time home run leader Hoku Nohara, who finished her career with 64.
SU'S MORROW SETS PROGRAM CAREER DOUBLES RECORD
Seattle U senior catcher Bubba Morrow set the Seattle U all-time career doubles record with her 33rd in game two vs. Portland State on April 1 and now has 37. Lisa Maulden (34) and Jenny Hurst (30) are also in the Top 5 in the same category. Morrow also sits in second place with 31 career home runs and 127 RBIs, trailing record holder Jane Purdy (2005-08) in both categories (37 homers, 162 RBIs).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.