This Week in WAC Softball - March 9
This Week in WAC Softball - March 9
MILDER AND MADRIGAL NAMED TICKETSMARTER PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Seattle U's Brooke Milder and Stefani Madrigal have been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for March 1 through March 7.
Milder, a sophomore from Paso Robles, California, was nearly perfect at the plate last week as she went 9-for-10 during the Redhawks' trip to Las Vegas for the UNLV Invitational. On Sunday, Milder went 3-for-3 and tallied a double and an RBI as she turned in her best performance of the week to help SU to a 6-1 victory over Idaho State. She also drove in a run and went 4-for-4 on Saturday against UNLV. On the season, Milder is batting .545 to lead the Redhawks.
Madrigal, a sophomore from San Jose, California, earned a pair of wins in the circle as she struck out 12 batters in just 13.0 innings last week. Madrigal's week was highlighted by a complete-game shutout of Idaho State on Saturday in which she gave up only three hits while allowing no walks. She was also dominant against UNLV on Friday as she gave up one run and struck out eight batters in just 5.2 innings to notch her second win of the season.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees included: Dixie State's Hannah Hughbanks collected four RBIs in nine at-bats last week as she hit .444 and notched her first home run of the season… Grand Canyon's Kristin Fifield went 6-for-9 at the plate last week, highlighted by a two-hit performance on Saturday in which she recorded a double and a home run… NM State's Matalasi Faapito was instrumental in the Aggies' six-win week as she finished with a .478 batting average, four doubles, three home runs and six RBIs in 17 at-bats… Utah Valley's Basia Query finished the week with a .429 batting average while picking up one RBI and two stolen bases as the Wolverines competed at the Boyd Gaming Classic… Tarleton's Katy Schaefer earned All-Tournament Team honors at the La Tech Invitational last week as she led the Texans in hitting at .375 and turned in three RBIs and a pair of doubles across five games.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees included: Dixie State's Ashtyn Bauerle pitched the Trailblazers' first Division I shutout as she went the distance in a 13-0 win over UC Riverside on Friday… Grand Canyon's Ryan Denhart finished the week with a win and a save while posting a 0.95 earned run average across 7.1 innings during the Lopes' series with Northern Illinois… NM State's Matalasi Faapito struck out a career-high nine batters as she pitched a complete game in the Aggies' 2-1 win over FGCU on Saturday… Tarleton's Tristan Bridges threw a pair of complete games as she struck out eight over 13.0 innings against national power Baylor… Utah Valley's Brooke Carter earned her second win of the young season as she pitched a complete-game shutout against WAC preseason favorite Seattle U.
ON DECK
The week of softball in the WAC kicked off today as Utah Valley battled with UC Santa Barbara. The Wolverines are back in action as they take on UC Riverside in a Wednesday double-header. Tarleton, NM State and Grand Canyon also take the field tomorrow. The Texans will see Prairie View for back-to-back matchups in Prairie View, Texas. The Aggies will take part in a double-header of their own as they face USF while Grand Canyon kicks off the Lopes Up Classic against Northern Illinois. California Baptist is the lone school that is scheduled to compete on Thursday as they host a double-header against Long Beach State.
The weekend will see Tarleton take on No. 10 Texas twice and Texas Southern once across Friday and Saturday. The Lancers begin their three-game series with UC Riverside on Friday before matching up twice on Sunday. GCU continues its home stretch on Friday and Saturday with contests against Baylor and Northern Illinois. Dixie State will be hosting a tournament of its own as they take on Weber State, Boise State, Utah and Southern Utah. The Redhawks of Seattle U begin their week on Friday with the first half of a pair of two-game series against Portland State and No. 8 Washington.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
With three weeks in the books, preseason favorite Seattle U hoists the best batting average (.288) while also sitting atop the league in earned run average (4.11). Tarleton's defense has been top-notch as they lead the conference in fielding percentage (.973). Individually, UVU's Basia Query has the best batting average at .444 while Grand Canyon's Gianna Nicoletti has the most hits (23) and runs scored (18). Dixie State's Mikaela Thomson leads the league in RBIs (18) and home runs (6). When it comes to extra-base hits, California Baptist's Brittany Galvez has hit the most doubles (7) while Grand Canyon's Kristin Fifield has recorded the most triples (3). Inside the circle, Seattle U's ace Shi Smith has the most strikeouts with 52 and GCU's Ryan Denhart holds the best ERA (2.82).
AGGIES WALK-OFF WINNERS
NM State concluded its week in exciting fashion as they walked off twice on Sunday. The Aggies received some seventh inning heroism from Hailey Tanori to pull out a 2-1 victory over South Dakota. Tanori hit a two-RBI single to propel the Aggies past the Coyotes after falling behind 0-1 in the top of the first inning.
The Aggies' magic took an extra inning the second time around as Ramsay Lopez hit a walk-off home run in the eighth inning to secure the victory over Toledo. With the pair of thrilling wins, the Aggies are now riding a six-game win streak. This is the longest win streak for NM State since winning six in a row in March 21-31 of 2018.
SEATTLE U TO HOST 2021 WAC TOURNAMENT
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.
SEATTLE U PICKED TO WIN 2021 WAC TITLE
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.
PRESEASON ALL-WAC TEAM
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.