United Athletic Conference

 

Seattle U's Ally Choate and Grand Canyon's Jacie Hambrick have been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for Feb. 15 through Feb. 21.

 

Choate, a senior outfielder from Yelm, Wash., posted an impressive .667 hitting percentage with a .714 on-base percentage and a .833 slugging percentage as she led the Redhawks to a 3-1 record on the week. Choate posted four multi-hit games to finish 8-for-12 with one home run, five RBIs and no strikeouts as Seattle U knocked off New Mexico twice and picked up a win over Southern Utah. Her weekend was highlighted by a 2-for-2 outing that included a double, an RBI and one run in Seattle U's 9-1 win over Southern Utah. On the season, Choate ranks third in the conference with a .517 batting average and second in the WAC with 15 total hits.

 

Hambrick, a freshman from Dewey, Ariz., made a pair of starts to lead the Lopes to two of their three wins on the week. On Saturday, she pitched a complete-game shutout and struck out six batters in the Lopes 1-0 victory on the road at San Diego. On Sunday, she helped GCU earn the series split with UC San Diego as she sat down three batters in five innings to earn the 6-4 win over the Triton's. On the week, she finished with nine strikeouts and posted a 1.75 earned-run average.

 

Other Hitter of the Week nominees included: Dixie State's Kasey Crawford led the Trailblazers with a .429 batting average as she collected six hits while adding a stolen base… Grand Canyon's Savannah Tourville had a monster performance in the Lopes 6-4 win over UC San Diego on Sunday, going 2-for-2 with four RBIs and 2.500 slugging percentage… Tarleton's Katy Schaefer shined last week, recording four RBIs while tallying her first career home run as she went yard against No. 11 Oklahoma State… Utah Valley's Linnah Rebolledo posted an impressive .538 batting average that included a dominating performance against Utah St. in which the junior went 3-for-3 with one triple and a pair of RBIs.

 

Other Pitcher of the Week nominees included: Dixie State's Ashtyn Bauerle pitched a complete game against Utah State as she gave up four runs with just two walks… Seattle U's Stefani Madrigal earned the complete game shoutout as she struck out four batters in the Redhawks' 8-0 win over New Mexico… Utah Valley's Devyn Cretz dominated in the Wolverines 8-0 win over Utah State as she struck out seven and gave up only two hits to earn her first of two wins on the week.

 

Week three of WAC softball kicked off last night as Tarleton dropped games against No. 2 Oklahoma and Houston. The Texans are back in action tomorrow afternoon as they host a double header against Prairie View. Tarleton also travels to Denton, Texas to compete in the North Texas Invitational. California Baptist starts its week tomorrow at home against Cal State Fullerton with its week closing out at the Stanford Tournament against the likes of Santa Clara, California and Stanford. Seattle U continues its stay in Tucson, Ariz., as they participate in the Wildcat Invitational, battling with BYU, Colorado State, No. 4 Arizona and Oregon State.

 

NM State will be in Florida for the second straight week, as it takes on Kentucky, Florida International and Stetson in The Spring Games. Meanwhile, Grand Canyon plays host to Portland State, No. 25 Iowa State, New Mexico and No. 2 Oklahoma during the GCU Purple Classic. Dixie State will also be at home as it puts on the Dixie State Tournament. The Trailblazers week features matchups with Utah State, Weber State and Northern Colorado. Utah Valley adds to the group of WAC teams at home as they host a three-game series with Southern Utah. 

 

Seattle U will host the 2021 WAC Softball Tournament. All eligible teams will advance to the double-elimination tournament, which will be held at Logan Field on May 13-15. This is the third time the Redhawks have hosted the event, as they did so in 2014 and 2016.

 

For the second year in a row, Seattle U is the preseason favorite to win the 2021 Western Athletic Conference softball title in a vote of the league's seven head coaches, who could not vote for their own team.

 

The Redhawks edged out the top spot in the preseason poll with 32 points as they collected four first-place votes. NM State was just behind them in second with 31 points, garnering the remaining three first-place votes. Utah Valley finished in third with 25 points while California Baptist slid into fourth, tallying 20 points. Grand Canyon landed in fifth with newcomer Dixie State taking sixth as they earned 19 points and 12 points, respectively. Tarleton rounded out the poll with eight points.

 

The Preseason All-WAC Team, as selected by the coaches, was also announced. The Preseason All-WAC Team includes last year's WAC Preseason Player of the Year and WAC Preseason Pitcher of the Year as NM State's Nikki Butler and Grand Canyon's Ryan Denhart each earned a selection. Along with Butler and Denhart, four other WAC Player of the Week award winners are included among this year's All-WAC team. Utah Valley's Devyn Cretz and Abby Doughty, NM State's Matalasi Faapito and California Baptist's Katelyn Mangrello each earned at least one player of the week award during the shortened 2020 season.

 

Joining those six on the Preseason All-WAC Team was Madison Cathcart and Ally Choate of Seattle U; Kaylee Dietrich of Grand Canyon; Carissa Burgess and Hannah Hughbanks of Dixie State; Brittany Galvez of California Baptist; Destiny Crumpley and Georgia Capell of Tarleton.