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NM STATE PLAYS ARIZONA STATE FRIDAY IN TEMPE REGIONAL
NM State, which won its second-straight WAC Tournament title last weekend, will travel to the Tempe Regional for the NCAA Championship this Friday. The Aggies (29-22) will face host and No. 8 overall seed Arizona State (43-11) at 6:30 p.m. (PT). Long Beach State (42-12) will face Ole Miss (30-23) on the other side of the bracket in the double elimination regional.
The Aggies are led by two-time WAC Player of the Year and WAC Tournament MVP
Kelsey Horton, who is batting .402 with a .927 slugging percentage, 25 home runs and 64 RBIs this season. All-WAC first team honoree and WAC Tournament Team selection
Nikki Butler is second on the team in batting average (.382), has 11 home runs and 52 RBIs. NM State pitcher
Kayla Green, also a first team All-WAC selection, is 14-8 on the season with a 3.58 ERA, 70 strikeouts and one save.
The Sun Devils are led by Kindra Hackbarth, a second team All-Pac-12 selection, and Danielle Gibson, a first team All-Pac-12 honoree. Hackbarth led the team with a .363 batting average and 65 hits, while Gibson leads the Sun Devils in home runs (12), RBIs (39) and slugging percentage (.675). First team All-Pac-12 honoree G Juarez, a Top-10 Finalist for USA Softball's Player of the Year Award, leads ASU in the circle with 276 strikeouts, a 0.92 ERA and a .146 opponent batting average.
The Aggies fell 3-0 and 5-1 to the Sun Devils earlier this season.
UTAH VALLEY TO FACE WEBER STATE IN NISC
Utah Valley (21-29) will face Big Sky regular-season co-champion Weber State (27-24) in the National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC) this Wednesday. The Wolverines and Wildcats square off at noon (PT) at UNLV (31-18), one of the other three teams in the Region. The other two teams are Nevada (25-25) and UC Riverside (33-22).
Utah Valley is led by first team All-WAC honoree
Lyndsay Steverson, who is batting .316 with 10 home runs and 41 RBIs, and WAC Freshman of the Year
Peyton Angulo, who ranks second on the team in batting average (.339), doubles (11) and RBIs (26). WAC Pitcher of the Year
Makayla Shadle is 6-9 with a 3.23 ERA, three saves and 82 strikeouts.
Weber State is led by first team All-Big Sky selection Ashlyn Visser, who is batting .354 with 12 home runs and 55 RBIs. Pitcher Kirtlyn Bohling, also a first team All-Big Sky honoree, is 13-11 with a 3.18 ERA and 126 strikeouts.
NM STATE WINS SECOND-STRAIGHT WAC TOURNAMENT TITLE
NM State won its second-straight and fourth overall WAC Tournament with a 3-0 record last weekend. The top-seeded Aggies run-ruled Grand Canyon 10-2 in six innings in their first game, beat Kansas City 14-3 in their second game and defeated the Lopes 9-7 in the championship game.
Kelsey Horton was named WAC Tournament MVP after batting .636 (7-of-11) with one double and three home runs. For the tournament, she slugged 1.545 and had a .692 on-base percentage as she was intentionally walked twice. Joining Horton on the all-tournament team were teammates
Nikki Butler,
Kennedy Johnson and
Rachel Rodriguez.
All-Tournament Team
Brianna Aguilar-Beaucage, Grand Canyon
Bianca Boling, Grand Canyon
Kaylee Bott, Utah Valley
Nikki Butler, NM State
Madison Cathcart, Seattle U
Olivia Fluehr, Kansas City
Kendsey Hill, Grand Canyon
Kennedy Johnson, NM State
Rachel Rodriguez, NM State
Sierra Smith, Grand Canyon
MVP: Kelsey Horton, NM State
SEVERAL WAC TOURNAMENT RECORDS BROKEN IN LAS CRUCES
Several WAC Tournament records were either broken or tied last week in Las Cruces. The records are listed below.
| Most Runs, Tournament: |
10 |
tied by Loriann Olson, Grand Canyon |
| Most Hits, Tournament: |
12 |
broken by Sierra Smith, Grand Canyon |
| Most Doubles, Game: |
3 |
tied by Sierra Smith, Grand Canyon |
| Most Doubles, Tournament: |
6 |
broken by Sierra Smith, Grand Canyon |
| Most Triples, Game: |
1 |
Sydney Garcia, Kansas City |
|
|
Kaylee Bott, Utah Valley |
|
|
Kelsey Goodwin, Kansas City |
|
|
Laynee Gomez, Grand Canyon |
| Most Home Runs, Tournament: |
4 |
tied by Bianca Boling, Grand Canyon |
| Most RBIs, Tournament: |
14 |
broken by Sierra Smith, Grand Canyon |
| Most Stolen Bases, Tournament: |
3 |
tied by Skylar Cook, Utah Valley |
FOUR GCU PLAYERS NAMED GOOGLE CLOUD ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
Four Grand Canyon softball players -
Bianca Boling,
Niki Gonzalez,
Laynee Gomez and
Jordan Keeton - were voted to the Google Cloud Academic All-District 8 Softball Team. All four advance to the national ballot for Academic All-America® consideration. That team will be announced on June 4.
A senior first baseman from Phoenix, Boling boasts a 3.95 grade-point average as a psychology major. She has started 39 games with eight doubles, two triples, four homers and 36 RBIs. She was a first team All-WAC honoree.
Gomez, a senior outfielder from Gilbert, Ariz., has a perfect 4.00 GPA as a secondary education major. She was named first team All-WAC after starting all 53 games and hitting .344 with six doubles, one triple, two home runs and 29 RBIs.
A senior catcher from Tucson, Ariz., Gonzalez has 3.99 GPA as an exercise science major. A second team All-WAC selection, she is hitting .355 with 14 doubles, 12 home runs and 44 RBIs.
A sophomore designated player from Casa Grande, Ariz., Jordan Keeton boasts a 3.61 GPA in business management. She hit .275 with eight doubles and 12 RBIs in 38 games.
In order to be eligible, a player must have completed at least one academic year, must be a starter or significant reserve, must have a 3.30 cumulative grade-point average and must have completed at least one full academic year at her institution. Voting is done by members of CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America).
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 |
Home runs |
54 |
8th |
| Kelsey Horton |
NM State |
Slugging percentage |
.793 |
8th |
| Kelsey Horton |
NM State |
Total Bases |
403 |
18th |
| Kelsey Horton |
NM State |
RBIs |
170 |
20th |
| Sierra Smith |
Grand Canyon |
Triples |
12 |
23rd |
| Rachel Rodriguez |
NM State |
Stolen bases |
83 |
28th |
| Kelsey Horton |
NM State |
Batting average |
.398 |
28th |
| Madison Cathcart |
Seattle U |
Slugging percentage |
.712 |
29th |
| Rachel Rodriguez |
NM State |
Runs |
164 |
29th |
| Rachel Rodriguez |
NM State |
Hits |
241 |
30th |
| Kelsey Horton |
NM State |
Runs |
160 |
31st |
| Rachel Rodriguez |
NM State |
Triples |
11 |
31st |
| Rachel Rodriguez |
NM State |
At bats |
666 |
42nd |
| Kayla Green |
NM State |
Saves |
7 |
48th |
NM STATE'S HORTON BREAKS PROGRAM SINGLE-SEASON HOMER RECORD
NM State junior
Kelsey Horton belted three home runs during the WAC Tournament last week to bring her season total to 25, making her the NM State single-season record holder. She also ranks second all-time in WAC history and first in the bat testing era. Horton also ranks among the Aggie greats in several career records. She is first in batting average (.398) and slugging percentage (.793), third in home runs (54), fourth in total bases (403) and fourth in RBIs (170).
UTAH VALLEY'S COOK BREAKS PROGRAM STOLEN BASE RECORD
Utah Valley junior
Skylar Cook stole three bases during the WAC Tournament to improve to 25-for-25 in stolen bases this season and break the UVU single-season record of 24 set by Morgan Summers Smith in 2016.
NM STATE'S BUTLER SETS SINGLE-SEASON HBP RECORD
NM State sophomore catcher
Nikki Butler set the program single-season record for hit by pitch after being hit 15 times this season. She set the previous record of 13 last year as a freshman.
NM STATE WINS FOURTH-STRAIGHT WAC REGULAR-SEASON TITLE
With a 2-1 series victory over Seattle U, NM State claimed its fourth-straight WAC regular-season title. The Aggies also won their second-straight WAC Tournament title to become the 10th team to win the regular-season and tournament title in the same season.