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DENVER - 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 April 17-23. This is the third honor of the season and fourth of her career for Horton and the third of the season and ninth of her career for Nowlin.
Horton, a sophomore second baseman from San Clemente, Calif., hit a double and four home runs in five games last week. She posted a 1.000 slugging percentage and a .636 on-base percentage. Last Tuesday, Horton ended Arizona's no hitter in the bottom of the seventh inning with a long ball over the center field fence for the lone run against the No. 3 Wildcats in the nightcap. It was just the fifth homer given up by Arizona's Taylor McQuillin all season. Horton hit another homer in the series opener against CSU Bakersfield last Friday and then helped NM State clinch the series over the Roadrunners when she went 4-for-4 with a double, a homer and a grand slam in the Aggies' 13-3 victory in the series finale. In WAC games, Horton leads the league in batting average (.568), slugging percentage (1.297), on-base percentage (.644), runs (18), hits (21), RBIs (20), home runs (8) and total bases (48).
Nowlin, a senior left-hander from Peoria, Ariz., went 2-0 with a 1.75 ERA and 14 strikeouts in a pair of appearances over 12.0 innings last week. In her first appearance, she earned a complete-game victory, allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out six and walking just one. In the final home outing of her career, Nowlin picked up her fifth shutout of the year in the series finale against Utah Valley. She nearly pitched a no-hitter giving up two hits in the final inning. Nowlin struck out all three batters in the final frame and finished with game with eight strikeouts. She leads the WAC with 145 strikeouts this season, nearly double the next closest pitcher. She is also tops in wins (19) and opponent batting average (.226).
Other Hitter of the Week nominees included: Grand Canyon's Kendsey Hill hit .636 with a double, a home run and seven RBIs ... Morgan Byrn of UMKC hit .368 with five home runs and seven RBIs on the week ... Seattle U's Alyson Matriotti hit .667 with two RBIs ... Brittney Vansway of Utah Valley hit .375 with two homers and four RBIs last week.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees included: CSU Bakersfield's Summer Evans went 2-0 with a 1.88 ERA and two strikeouts last week ... Samaria Diaz of NM State went 1-1 with a 5.92 ERA and four strikeouts in 13.0 innings of work ... Seattle U's Andie Larkins went 2-1 with 4.88 ERA and seven strikeouts over 14.1 innings.