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SEATTLE U'S CATHCART, GCU'S AGUILAR-BEAUCAGE NAMED WAC ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Seattle U's
Madison Cathcart and Grand Canyon's
Brianna Aguilar-Beaucage have been named the Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for March 5-11. This is the second of the season and of her career for Cathcart and the second honor of the season and third of her career for Aguilar-Beaucage.
Cathcart, a sophomore first baseman from Longview, Wash., posted a .500 batting average, 1.500 slugging percentage and .667 on-base percentage over six games last week. She had two doubles, four home runs and 12 RBIs and walked seven times on the week. Cathcart led the Redhawks to a doubleheader sweep of Toledo on Tuesday, reaching base all seven times she came to the plate and hitting a walk-off grand slam in the nightcap. The sophomore followed with two more homers at the CSUN Tournament, upping her NCAA-leading total to 14 home runs this year.
Aguilar-Beaucage, a sophomore right-hander from Tucson, Ariz., went 3-1 with a 1.85 ERA over 22.2 innings pitched last week. She posted a 19-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio and allowed just three extra-base hits. Aguilar-Beaucage threw three complete games with two shutouts, including two one-hitters. On Sunday against Iowa, she had a perfect game through six innings when she gave up a single run in the top of the seventh.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees included: CSU Bakersfield's
Kaylynn Burt hit .500 with two runs and one RBI ...
Sierra Smith of Grand Canyon hit .409 with a triple and three RBIs ... Kansas City's
Kelsey Goodwin hit .357 with a double, a triple and four RBIs ...
Kelsey Horton of NM State hit .375 with four home runs and seven RBIs ... Utah Valley's
Madison Sisco hit .385 with two home runs and eight RBIs.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees included: Kansas City's
Sara Miller posted a 4.67 ERA with two strikeouts over 9.0 innings last week ...
Samaria Diaz of NM State went 0-2 with a 4.67 ERA and eight strikeouts over 12.0 innings ... Utah Valley's
Makayla Shadle went 1-2 with a save and 20 strikeouts over 15.0 innings last week.
SEVERAL WAC PLAYERS RANK AMONG TOP 50 IN NCAA ACTIVE CAREER LEADERS
Several WAC players rank among the Top 50 nationally in the NCAA's active career leader charts. The rankings and categories are listed below.
| Player |
School |
Category |
Total |
Ranking |
| Kelsey Horton |
NM State |
Slugging percentage |
.740 |
13th |
| Sierra Smith |
Grand Canyon |
Triples |
11 |
15th |
| Kelsey Horton |
NM State |
Home runs |
38 |
17th |
| Rachel Rodriguez |
NM State |
Hits |
213 |
21st |
| Rachel Rodriguez |
NM State |
Stolen bases |
76 |
21st |
| Rachel Rodriguez |
NM State |
At bats |
594 |
24th |
| Rachel Rodriguez |
NM State |
Triples |
10 |
25th |
| Rachel Rodriguez |
NM State |
Runs |
140 |
31st |
| Kelsey Horton |
NM State |
Batting average |
.388 |
34th |
| Kelsey Horton |
NM State |
RBIs |
132 |
36th |
| Kayla Green |
NM State |
Saves |
6 |
43rd |
| Kelsey Horton |
NM State |
Runs |
128 |
43rd |
| Andie Larkins |
Seattle U |
Games started |
72 |
48th |
SU'S CATHCART LEADS NATION IN HOMERS, SLUGGING PERCENTAGE, TOTAL BASES
Seattle U first baseman
Madison Cathcart hit a walk-off grand slam, her second homer of the game, last Tuesday against Toledo, then added long balls over the weekend against Texas Tech and CSUN, to move her season total to an NCAA-best 14 on the year. She also leads the nation in slugging percentage (1.197) and total bases (85). Cathcart had five home runs as a freshman last season.
GCU'S SIERRA SMITH LEADING NCAA IN HITS, TWIN SHEA IN FOURTH
Grand Canyon junior third baseman
Sierra Smith currently leads the NCAA in hits with 41. Twin sister and shortstop
Shea Smith ranks fourth nationally with 39 hits.
UVU'S COOK STEALS NINE BASES IN FIVE GAMES
Utah Valley junior outfielder
Skylar Cook stole an impressive nine bases in a five-game span for the Wolverines at the Colorado State Classic last weekend. She went a perfect 9-for-9 in stolen base opportunities at the tournament with a total of five on Friday, including three in Friday afternoon's nightcap against the host Rams. As a team, UVU swiped a total of 15 bases on the weekend by going a combined 15-for-16 in that department. With the big weekend, Cook now leads the Wolverines and the WAC with 13 free bases (13-for-13) on the season.
NM STATE MAKES WAVES AGAINST NO. 1 WASHINGTON
In the Aggies' game against No. 1 Washington on March 10, junior
Kelsey Horton hit just the second home run Husky ace Taran Alvelo had given up all season, giving NM State a 1-0 advantage. Later in the inning, sophomore catcher
Nikki Butler hit another long ball against Alvelo. The 2-0 lead for the Aggies tied Washington's second largest deficit this season. The previous time the Huskies had trailed was against then-No. 6 Texas A&M. Alvelo had previously given up just one homer all season.