United Athletic Conference

Complete Release (PDF)

 

NM State's Nikki Butler and Seattle U's Shi Smith have been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for Feb. 17-23.

 

Butler, a senior catcher from La Habra, Calif., led the Aggies to a 4-0 record at the UTEP Tournament in El Paso, Texas. She slashed .600/.714/.600 with six hits, nine RBI's and three home runs. To open the tournament, Butler hit a perfect 1.000 against IUPUI, including a double, one home run and three RBIs in three plate appearances. The senior went yard in three out the four games that NM State played in and also earned two walks. Butler helped the Aggies outscore their opponents 46-13 over the three-day tournament, allowing only two of the four games to reach seven innings.

 

Smith, a junior right-hander from Gresham, Ore., helped Seattle U capture wins over UC Davis and 18th-ranked Missouri as the Redhawks competed in the illustrious Mary Nutter Classic over the weekend. On Friday against UC Davis, Smith struck out 15 of the 21 batters she faced and threw the first seven-inning no-hitter in school history. In her second appearance of the weekend, Smith pitched six innings against No. 3 ranked Oklahoma. She collected five strikeouts and gave up only two runs to a Sooner team that averages seven runs a game. Smith also earned the save against No. 18 Missouri as she struck out five batters and gave up only one hit in three innings.

 

Other Hitter of the Week nominees included: Kansas City's Delainey Fenoglio batted .500 in five games over the weekend, including seven hits, three RBIs and a home run… Utah Valley's Jade Miller went 7-for-16 with two multi-hit games, five RBIs, two doubles and a triple in four games for the Wolverines.

 

Other Pitcher of the Week nominees included: NM State's Analise De La Roca earned two wins in two appearances and finished the weekend with 0.84 ERA, including throwing four scoreless innings against Omaha on Friday… Utah Valley's Katie Zuniga helped the Wolverines earn the series win over Saint Mary's (Cal.) as she pitched 5 1/3 innings in an 8-4 victory over the Gaels on Saturday.

 

As a conference, our teams will play in a combined 20 games over the week, starting with a matchup between California Baptist and San Diego State as the Lancers host their first home game of the season. Just two days later, the Lancers will travel to Oxford, Miss., to compete in the Ole Miss Classic where they will face Missouri State, Ole Miss and Jackson State. NM State heads to Las Vegas to participate in the Boyd Gaming Classic where they will see Houston twice, UNLV twice and rival UTEP once. Seattle U will be the second conference team to take a trip to Hawaii this season as Kansas City was just there last week. The Redhawks will take on Nevada, Oregon State and Hawaii in the Malihini Kipa Aloha Tournament. Grand Canyon heads to Fullerton, Calif., where they will battle with Colorado State, Cal Poly, California and Boise State in the Judy Garman Classic. The Lopes will also have their first crack at a Top 25 team this season as they take on #25 Texas Tech on Saturday, Feb. 29, at 8 p.m. PT. To close out this week's slate of games, Kansas City will travel to Cape Girardeau, Mo., for a three-game series with Southeast Missouri State.

 

After two weeks of non-conference play, NM State leads in team batting with a .358 batting average and also in fielding with a .980 fielding percentage while Utah Valley has the top ERA at 2.99. Individually, NM State's Nikki Butler leads the conference in batting average (.545), total bases (40), runs (13) and RBIs (18). Butler shares the home run lead with teammate Matalasi Faapito at six home runs apiece. Utah Valley's Devyn Cretz holds the top ERA at 1.60 while teammate Basia Query is tied with NMSU's Butler for the most hits this season with 18. Query and CBU's Mackenzie Budinger have hit the most doubles with five each and NM State's Hope Banales leads the conference with two triples on the season. CSU Bakersfield's Cydney Curran, NM States Jeanelle Medina and Seattle U's Olivia Viggiano each have four stolen bases for the season to lead the conference. Meanwhile, Seattle U's Shi Smith has struck out the most batters with 56 in just 38 2/3 innings pitched. 

 

For only the second time in school history, Seattle U took down a nationally-ranked opponent. On Sunday, Feb. 23, the Redhawks defeated No. 18 Missouri 3-1. A three-run homer off the bat of junior Bailey Thompson in the first inning gave SU the early lead and eventually the win. Pitchers Carley Nance and Shi Smith combined to allow only one run on four hits in the victory. 

 

With a loaded non-conference schedule, this is already the fifth matchup with a Top 25 team for the Redhawks this season. They also took on No. 3 Oklahoma over the weekend and came ever so close to pulling off the upset as they fell 2-1.

 

NM State's hot start has them among the nation's best. Through three weeks, the Aggies rank in the top six in five different offensive categories, including leading the nation in three categories. NM State hits the most home runs per game in the nation at 2.50 while also leading the NCAA in scoring (9.17) and slugging percentage (.714). The Aggies also rank fifth in on base percentage (.458) and sixth in batting average (.362). Boasting a league-best 9-3 record, NM State has outscored its opponents 110-52.

 

The Aggies explosive offense is led by senior Kelsey Horton and freshman Matalasi Faapito. Both Horton and Faapito rank in the nation's Top 10 in home runs, home runs per game and slugging percentage. Sophomore Kayla Bowen pitched in with a school record eight RBIs in the Aggies final game over the weekend as they took down IUPUI 16-5 in five innings.

 

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.

 

NM State senior catcher Nikki Butler was selected as the Preseason Player of the Year and Grand Canyon junior Ryan Denhart 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. 

 

Seattle U led the way with five players selected to the Preseason All-WAC team, followed by Grand Canyon with three selections. Utah Valley and California Baptist each claimed two spots while NM State earned one selection.

 

Joining Butler and Denhart on the Preseason All-WAC Team were Madison Cathcart, Ally Choate, Carley Nance, Shianne Smith and Bailey Thompson of Seattle U; Brianna Aguilar and Savannah Tourville of Grand Canyon; Abby Doughty and Lyndsay Steverson of Utah Valley; Britanny Galvez and Caitlyn Lloyd of California Baptist.

 

Of the 13 first team All-WAC players from last year, six return for the 2020 season, including Seattle U's Ally Choate, Carley Nance and Bailey Thompson, NM State's Nikki Butler, Grand Canyon's Savannah Tourville and Utah Valley's Abby Doughty.

 

Eleven of the second team All-WAC selections return for 2020, including three from Kansas City (Sydney Garcia, Mia Hoveland and Chyanne Onstad). Also returning are Grand Canyon's Brianna Aguilar and Ryan Denhart, California Baptist's Britanny Galvez and Caitlyn Lloyd, Seattle U's Madison Cathcart and Olivia Viggiano, Cydney Curran of CSU Bakersfield and Lyndsay Steverson of Utah Valley.