United Athletic Conference

 

NM State's Matalasi Faapito and Utah Valley's Devyn Cretz have been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for Feb. 3-9.

 

Faapito, a freshman utility from Temecula, Calif., burst onto the scene as she went 8-for-11 (.727) at the plate as the Aggies went 3-1 in the Troy Cox Classic. Faapito hit four home runs on the week, including two against Bradley and one against nationally ranked Arkansas. She also finished the four-game stretch with a .750 on-base percentage, slugged 1.909 and accumulated eight RBI. On top of the two homers in the Aggies 13-4 victory over Bradley, the freshman also brought in four runs, went three for three at the plate and recorded her first extra-base hit as she earned a double in the second inning.

 

Cretz, a senior right-hander from Corona, Calif., started her 2020 season with a win and a pair of saves, leading the Wolverines to a 3-1 record on opening weekend. Cretz pitched a complete game in a 9-1 win over George Washington and did not allow an earned run. She also picked up saves against Nevada and Long Beach State. The California native posted a 1.31 ERA and collected nine strikeouts on the weekend, including four in her appearances against both George Washington and Nevada. Against Long Beach State, Cretz pitched two innings in relief and did not give up a single hit on her way to earning the save. She was also named to the Puerto Vallarta Challenge All-Tournament Team.

 

Other Hitter of the Week nominees included: California Baptist's Mackenzie Budinger hit two home runs and brought in six runs on top of slugging .923 for the weekend… CSU Bakersfield's Samantha Martinez went 5-for-11 in her debut weekend, including two home runs and four RBI… Grand Canyon's Olivia Zufelt led the Lopes with seven RBI, including a walk-off home run against UNM… Seattle U's Stephanie Merwin hit .411 with three extra-base hits in nine at-bats… Utah Valley's Basia Query finished the week hitting .462 with a .533 on base percentage.

 

Other Pitcher of the Week nominees included: NM State's Matalasi Faapito threw six innings and recorded five strikeouts against a nationally ranked Arkansas team… Seattle U's Shi Smith recorded 13 strikeouts in a 1-0 loss against Northwestern.

 

Grand Canyon will host the 2020 WAC Softball Tournament. All six eligible teams will advance to the double-elimination tournament, which will be held at the GCU Softball Stadium on May 6-9. This is the second time the Lopes have hosted the event, as they did so in 2019.

 

In a preseason vote of the six WAC softball coaches, who could not vote for their own team, Seattle U was selected as the preseason favorite to win the title. 

 

The Redhawks took the top spot in the preseason poll with 35 points and five first-place votes. Grand Canyon was selected second with 30 points and the other two first-place votes while NM State was just behind in third with 28 points. California Baptist finished with 17 points to put them in fourth place. Utah Valley was picked to finish fifth with 16 points followed by Kansas City in sixth with 13 points. CSU Bakersfield rounded out the poll, garnering eight points.

 

Three players in the conference currently lead all of Division I in one or more categories. NM State's Matalasi Faapito hit four home runs through the first weekend, tying her with five others for the nation's home run lead. Faapito is also tied with Marshall's Sierra Huerta for most home runs per game at 1.00. As a team NM State sits alone at the top in home runs per game (3.25) and slugging percentage (.864). The Aggies are also tied with Oregon and Austin Peay for the nation's best fielding percentage (1.000)

 

Utah Valley's Devyn Cretz picked up two saves over the weekend, giving her a share of the nation's lead in that category. Only six other pitchers have two saves thus far.

 

Utah Valley's Katie Zuniga is tied with 46 other pitchers for the least walks allowed per seven innings at 0.00.