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NM STATE'S HORTON, GCU'S NOWLIN NAMED WAC ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
NM State's Kelsey Horton and Grand Canyon's Taylor Nowlin have been named the Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for Feb. 15-21. This is the first-ever honor for Horton and the first honor of the season and fourth of her career for Nowlin.
Horton, a freshman first baseman from San Clemente, Calif., hit .400 with a double, three home runs and seven RBIs over six games as the Aggies went 4-2 last week. She posted a 1.067 slugging percentage and .471 on-base percentage and had one stolen base. In the final game of the week, Horton was 3-for-3 with two runs scored, a double and a grand slam.
Nowlin, a junior from Peoria Ariz., pitched her second no-hitter of the season on Friday against Utah State, allowing only one base runner via a walk and striking out five. For the week, Nowlin went 2-1, giving up just three earned runs on 12 hits over 25.0 innings of work for a 0.84 ERA. She also struck out a WAC-best 20 batters and held opponents to a .154 batting average.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees included: Grand Canyon's Shea Smith hit .450 with four doubles and one RBI ... Brooke Parker of Missouri-Kansas City hit .500 and drove in one run in one game last week ... Seattle U's Haley Wymbs hit .400 with one double ... Morgan Smith of Utah Valley hit .471 with one double, one triple and two RBIs in five games.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees included: Missouri-Kansas City's Lacie Bullard went 1-0 with a 1.00 ERA and four strikeouts in one appearance last week ... Kayla Green of NM State went 2-0 with a 1.40 ERA and one strikeout in 10.0 innings ... Utah Valley's Bailey Moore went 1-1 with a 3.11 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 9.0 innings of work.
GCU'S NOWLIN THROWS TWO NO-HITTERS, COMBINES FOR A THIRD
Grand Canyon's Taylor Nowlin pitched her second no-hitter of the season on Feb. 19 against Utah State, only allowing only one base runner via a walk and striking out five. The junior also threw a no-hitter in a five-inning win over Loyola Marymount on Feb. 14 and combined with Bailey Bergman to no-hit UMBC in the season opener on Feb. 12.
EIGHT OF NM STATE'S NINE VICTORIES BY RUN RULE
NM State is currently 9-2 on the season, with eight of its nine victories coming by run rule. The Aggies, who boast a .426 batting average, have won three games by 10 runs this season.
UVU'S SMITH SETS PROGRAM STEALS RECORD
With her fourth stolen base of the season in the third inning of the Mary Nutter Classic finale against Binghamton on Feb. 21, Utah Valley senior Morgan Smith became the program's all-time leader in stolen bases with 41. Smith, who also holds the school record for all-time triples with 11, passed Meghan Yocom's (2008-2011) previous UVU record of 40. Smith is now 41-for-47 for her career in stolen bases.
NM STATE RANKS IN TOP FIVE NATIONALLY IN SEVERAL OFFENSIVE CATEGORIES
NM State currently ranks second nationally in batting average (.426) and third in both slugging percentage (.694) and on-base percentage (.513). The Aggies are also 10th in scoring (8.27).