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UMKC'S PARKER, GRAND CANYON'S REGESTER NAMED WAC ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Missouri-Kansas City's Brooke Parker and Grand Canyon's Kailey Regester have been named the Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for April 4-10. This is the first-ever honor for Parker and the first of the season and third of her career for Regester.
Parker, a senior outfielder from Blue Springs, Mo., tallied 10 hits in three games against CSU Bakersfield, including a perfect 4-for-4 effort in game two of the series. The four hits marked a career-best performance, and she would go on to match the four-hit effort in the series finale with a 4-for-5 outing. Parker scored five runs and drove in another two in the series sweep of the Roadrunners.
Regester, a senior from Chandler Ariz., went 1-0 with a 1.00 ERA in two appearances last week. She allowed just one run on seven hits over 7.0 innings, with five strikeouts and no walks. In the second game of the series at Seattle U, she threw her first shutout of the season, scattering five hits over six innings and striking out four. In the series finale, Regester came in relief and closed out the contest, delivering the game-claiming strikeout after forcing two ground outs to third base.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees included: Grand Canyon's Camree Wartman hit .600 with one triple, one home run and eight RBIs ... Victoria Castro of NM State hit .462 with a double, a triple, a home run and three RBIs last week.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees included: UMKC's Katie Kelley went 2-0 with a 4.08 ERA and 10 strikeouts over 12.0 innings last week ... Makayla McAdams of NM State went 2-1 with a 3.32 ERA and eight strikeouts over 19.0 innings.
UMKC OFF TO BEST START IN CONFERENCE PLAY SINCE 2002
The 5-1 start to conference play is the best since 2002 at UMKC, where the ‘Roos started Mid-Continent Conference (now Summit League) play at 14-1, before finishing 16-3 in league play.
UTAH VALLEY'S MOORE BECOMES UVU DIVISION I LEADER IN APPEARANCES
With an appearance in the circle against in-state foe Weber State on April 5, Utah Valley junior right-handed pitcher Bailey Moore became the all-time program leader in career appearance with 108. After a trio of appearances over the weekend against NM State, Moore has now logged 111 appearances in the circle for UVU to pass former Wolverine great Josi Summers' previous record of 107.
CSUB'S SIMMONS TIES SEASON STEALS RECORD
With two stolen bases last week, CSU Bakersfield senior Alex Simmons is a perfect 12-for-12 on the season, tying the CSUB Division I single-season record. In just two seasons with the Roadrunners, the shortstop ranks second in a CSUB Division I career history with 22. Fellow senior Sydney Raeber is close behind in third with 21 after a pulling off a double steal with Simmons against UMKC on April 9.
UMKC'S KELLEY THREE DOUBLES SHY OF ALL-TIME PROGRAM RECORD
With seven doubles this season, Missouri-Kansas City senior Katie Kelley has a career total of 44, three shy of the UMKC record of 47, set by Amanda Rice (1999-2002). She also ranks fourth all-time with 188 hits. If she continues at her current pace, Kelley would close her career with 209 hits, 14 shy of the UMKC record of 223 (Kaelene Curry, 2009-12).
GRAND CANYON POSTS 11TH RUN-RULE VICTORY OF SEASON
The Lopes picked up their eighth shutout and 11th run-rule of the season in their 8-0 defeat of Seattle U on April 8. For the second time this season, GCU posted double-digit hits in three straight contests. Grand Canyon first accomplished the feat Feb. 13-14 in games against Idaho State (16), Idaho State (13) and Loyola Marymount (14). The Lopes repeated it with 10, 10 and 13 hits, respectively, in the WAC series against the Redhawks April 8-9.
CSUB DOUBLES SEASON HOME RUN TOTAL IN ONE GAME
In the 12-7 slugfest against the Missouri-Kansas City on April 9, CSU Bakersfield doubled its season home run total from three to six. The three ‘Runners who hit a home run on Saturday were freshmen Nadia Amezcua and Chris Hipa and redshirt senior Adrianna Cardoza. Cardoza and Amezcua took the team lead, tied with two homers each. The three home runs by CSUB is tied for the second most in CSUB Division I single-game history.
GRAND CANYON'S OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION
Through 41 games this season, Grand Canyon is outscoring its opponents 267 to 158. The Lopes' largest margin of victory is 18 runs, with one 10-run victory, one nine-run win and eight victories by eight runs. Grand Canyon has also posted seven shutouts.
CSUB'S RAEBER SURPASSES 500 CAREER AT BATS
CSU Bakersfield senior Sydney Raeber has eclipsed the 500 career at bat plateau and now stands at 521 in her four-year career, good for fourth place in CSUB Division I history. Raeber is also first in the CSUB Division I record books in saves (7), second in doubles (31), third in stolen bases (21), fourth in hits (156), sacrifice hits (20), hit by pitch (14), games played (184) and games started (184), and fifth in RBIs (64) and total bases (194).
GRAND CANYON POSTS 17 HITS AGAINST LOYOLA MARYMOUNT
Grand Canyon swept a midweek doubleheader at Loyola Marymount on March 23, recording its second highest hit total of the season in the first game, when the Lopes scored 12 runs on 17 hits. On the afternoon, GCU collected 15 runs on 24 hits, with five doubles and two home runs. GCU had a season-high 23 hits in the season opener against UMBC.
UMKC SCORES ITS MOST RUNS EVER AGAINST OKLAHOMA
On March 26, Missouri-Kansas City scored the most runs in a game against Oklahoma in the history of the series, plating four runs in the series finale at the ASA Hall of Fame Complex in Oklahoma City. All three senior captains - Alexandra Friloux, Katie Kelley and Brooke Parker - drove in a run in the 8-4 loss, with Friloux driving in two in her first appearance in nearly a month.
CSUB HAS EIGHT-RUN INNING FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2012
CSU Bakersfield scored a season-high 10 runs against Santa Clara on March 20, with the bulk its runs coming in an eight-run third inning. It was the most runs in an inning for CSUB since the team scored eight in an inning on Maine in 2012.
NM STATE'S NEW EMPHASIS ON STOLEN BASES
NM State currently leads the WAC with 86 stolen bases, more than twice the number of Grand Canyon and Missouri-Kansas City (32) in second place. With a minimum of 13 games remaining this season, the Aggies are on pace to double last year's total of 56 stolen bases.
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 47-for-53 for her career in stolen bases.
FIFTEEN OF NM STATE'S 26 VICTORIES BY RUN RULE
Of NM State's 26 victories this season, 15 have come by run rule. The Aggies' largest margin of victory is 12 runs in the WAC opener against Seattle U. NM State has also won six games by 10 runs, three games by nine runs and five games by eight runs, and has posted seven shutouts this season.
GCU'S NOWLIN HAS TWO NO-HITTERS, COMBINES FOR 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.
NM State's Finau Named NFCA Player of the Week
NM State's Fiana Finau garnered Louisville/Slugger National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division I Player of the Week honors for March 7-13. Finau hit .579 (11-for-19) with three doubles, three home runs and 13 RBIs over a six-game stretch last week. The Chula Vista, Calif., native slugged 1.211, registered a .600 on-base percentage and scored five runs. She went 3-for-3 with a double, a home run and four RBIs in a win over Rio Grande rival New Mexico. The senior slugger stroked a game-winning two-run home run against Maine and went 3-for-4 with a double and four RBIs versus East Carolina. Finau recorded a hit in five of six contests and put together four multi-hit games. The WAC Hitter of the Week posted two hits with a double against USF, while scoring twice and knocking in two with a long ball versus Detroit.
CSUB'S RAEBER TIES PROGRAM DIVISION I STRIKEOUT RECORD
CSU Bakersfield senior Sydney Raeber recorded a program Division I single-game-tying 10 strikeouts in a complete-game victory over UC Davis on Valentine's Day. She only walked two batters.
NMSU'S HORTON HITS THREE HOMERS IN FIRST FOUR AT BATS
NM State freshman Kelsey Horton opened her career as an Aggie with three home runs in her first four at-bats. Her first at-bat was a grand slam in the bottom of a nine-run first inning for the Aggies on Feb. 12.
NM STATE PICKED TO WIN 2016 WAC TITLE
In a preseason vote of the six WAC softball coaches, who could not vote for their own team, NM State was selected as the preseason favorite to win the title.
The Aggies took the top spot in the preseason poll with 25 points and five first-place votes. Grand Canyon was picked second with 20 points and the other first-place vote, edging out CSU Bakersfield in third place with 18 points. UMKC was fourth with 11 points, followed by Seattle U and Utah Valley with nine and seven points, respectively.
SEATTLE U TO HOST 2016 WAC TOURNAMENT
Seattle U will host the 2016 WAC Softball Tournament. The five eligible teams will advance to the double-elimination tournament, which will be held at Logan Field May 12-14. This is the second time in the last three years the Redhawks have hosted the event, as they did so in 2014.
PRESEASON ALL-WAC TEAM
NM State senior utility player Fiana Finau 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.
NM State placed the most players on the Preseason All-WAC team with six, while Grand Canyon had three.
Joining Finau and Kelley on the Preseason All-WAC Team are Aggies Emma Adams, Karysta Donisthorpe, Brennalyn Nakamura, Haley Nakamura and Rachel Rodriguez; Grand Canyon's Brittany Medina, Taylor Nowlin and Camree Wartman; CSU Bakersfield's Adrianna Cardoza; and Seattle U's Paige Bouska and Isabella Geronimo.
RETURNING ALL-CONFERENCE PLAYERS
Of the 13 first team All-WAC players from last year, five returned for the 2016 season, including Missouri-Kansas City's Brooke Parker, NM State's Fiana Finau and Haley Nakamura, Seattle U's Isabella Geronimo and Utah Valley's Brittney Vansway.
Ten of the second team All-WAC selections returned, including four from Grand Canyon (Bianca Boling, Brittany Medina, Taylor Nowlin and Camree Wartman). Also returning were Julea Cavazos and Alex Simmons of CSU Bakersfield, UMKC's Katie Kelley, NM State's Karysta Donisthorpe, Seattle U's Paige Bouska and Morgan Smith of Utah Valley.