United Athletic Conference

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California Baptist’s Amanda Argomaniz has been named the TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Hitter of the Week with Seattle U’s Carley Nance earning TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week honors.

 

Argomaniz recorded a .727 batting average as the Lancers swept a three-game series at NM State. The senior posted at least two hits in each of the three games while producing a 1.091 slugging percentage. She started the series with a 2-for-4 effort with a run scored in Friday’s 9-6 victory. The following day she posted three hits in each game of the doubleheader. During the twinbill she recorded five RBI with a pair of runs scored. In her 12 plate appearances over the weekend, she reached based on nine occasions. 

 

In three starts last week, Nance registered 21 strikeouts with two complete game shutout wins. In a mid-week game against crosstown rival Washington, she tallied eight strikeouts in four innings of work. In the Redhawks first game of the weekend against Utah Valley, Nance posted a complete-game shutout with eight strikeouts while allowing two hits. During the series finale she threw another complete-game shutout with five strikeouts. In 16.0 total innings pitched she walked just one batter. 

 

Other Hitter of the Week nominees included:  Kalyn Hill had six hits with six RBI and three runs scored in Seattle U’s four-game week … Dixie State’s Madisen Duryea had six RBI, two homeruns and two doubles as the Trailblazer won two of three at Grand Canyon … Tarleton’s Tristyn Trull went 7-for-11 at the plate with four RBI as the Texans took two of three from Lamar … Stephanie Reed notched a .500 batting average for Grand Canyon during their three-game home set against Dixie State

 

Other Pitcher of the Week nominees included: Jordan Schuring recorded a 2-0 record with a save as California Baptist took three road games at NM State … Alexis Telford posted a pair of wins for Stephen F. Austin with 11 total strikeouts against Sam Houston … Carissa Burgess earned a complete game win at Grand Canyon for Dixie State … Lamar’s Aaliyah Ruiz posted 14 strikeouts overall in four appearances

 

A host of possibilities await the final weekend of WAC games. The two divisions champs have been decided as Grand Canyon and Stephen F. Austin secured those titles last weekend. Both are shooting for the No. 1 overall seed at the conference tournament. At worst, one of those teams will be the second seed at the tournament.

 

The tournament eligible runner-up in each division will be the No. 3 or No. 4 seed. Abilene Christian is assured of one of those spots with Seattle U or Utah Valley securing the other. The last four tournament seeds (Nos. 5-8) will be based on conference winning percentage. 

 

It is the final weekend of play for Tarleton, California Baptist and Dixie State as they are not eligible for the conference tournament during their transition from NCAA Division II to division I. 

 

 

Batting Average: Madison Carr (UVU) - .427

RBI: Carley Nance (SU) - 56

Runs: Gianna Nicoletti (GCU) - 54

Home Runs: Ramsey Lopez (NMSU) - 15

On Base Percentage: Calie Burris (ACU) - .526

 

 

Grand Canyon’s Gianna Nicoletti is just two stolen bases away from tying the league’s single season stolen base record. Nicoletti has registered 44 steals this season and is within striking distance of Utah’s Sandy Rhea’s 1997 record of 46.

 

A handful of individuals from the WAC find themselves among the top 10 in the nation in offense and pitching

 

Player, School Category Rank (Stat)

Gianna Nicoletti, GCU Total Stolen Bases 2nd (44)

Gianna Nicoletti, GCU Stolen Bases Per Game 2nd (0.96)

Carly Nance, SU Total RBI 9th (56)

 

Carly Nance, SU Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio 3rd (11.86)

Carly Nance, SU Walks Allowed per 7 innings 3rd (0.61)

 

Moreover, as a team Grand Canyon ranks second in the nation with 2.50 stolen bases per game and seventh with a .335 team batting average. 

 

As a conference the WAC ranks 20th in adjusted RPI. There are 32 NCAA Division I softball playing conferences. Grand Canyon (86th) ranks in the top 100 with Seattle U (104) just outside the top 100. California Baptist’s ranking of 110th just behind the WAC RPI leaders. Among southwest division schools, Stephen F. Austin (124th) has the best RPI ranking.

 

With the addition of four Texas schools during the summer of 2021, the WAC separated  the 11 playing softball members into two divisions. One division features Texas only schools with the remaining six institutions  playing in the Western Division. 

 

Defending WAC tournament champion Seattle U was picked to win the Western Division. NM State, runner-up at the WAC tournament in 2021, was selected in the number two position in the preseason head coaches poll. Grand Canyon was chosen third with Dixie State picked fourth as California Baptist and Utah Valley rounded out the six-team division. The Southwest Division preseason pick went to Stephen F. Austin with Sam Houston selected in the runner-up spot. Abilene Christian was chosen in the third position as Tarleton and Lamar completed that five-team division.

 

The top two spots on the preseason all-conference team went to a pair of Stephen F. Austin players. Shaylon Govan was selected as the conference’s preseason Player of the Year with Kassidy Wilbur voted the preseason Pitcher of the Year.

 

The 13-player preseason all-conference team features nine players who earned first- or second-team WAC accolades last season. (! - 2021 First-Team, $ - 2021 Second-Team)

 

$Kayla Bowen (NMSU) Sr., Util.

!Kristin Fifield (GCU), Jr., Util.

Gaby Garcia (SFA) Jr., C/OF

Shaylon Govan (SFA) Jr., INF/OF

!Hannah Hughbanks (DSU) Jr., OF/1B

!Ramsey Lopez (NMSU) r-Soph., INF

$Carley Nance (SU) Grad, LHP

 

Sam Houston will serve as hosts for the season ending WAC tournament from May 11-14 at the Bearkat Softball Complex in Hunstville, Texas. 

 

NM State won the regular season title. When there were seven teams playing for the conference title, the Aggies finished one game better than Seattle U. They won the title with a 14-4 league mark with the Redhawks completing their season with a 13-5 conference record.

 

Grand Canyon, Utah Valley and California Baptist all won eight regular season games. Dixie State (6 wins) and Tarleton (5) wrapped-up the regular season standings.

 

Seattle U took advantage of hosting the season ending WAC tournament by winning three games without a loss to win the four-team event and claim the league’s automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament. 

 

Seeds:1-NM State, 2-Seattle U, 3-Grand Canyon, 4-Utah Valley 

 

G TEAMS R-H-E 

1 Utah Valley 6-8-1

NM State 5-10-0

 

2 Grand Canyon 4-8-0

Seattle U 5-10-0

 

3 NM State 6-9-1

Grand Canyon 2-6-4

 

4 Seattle U 5-9-2

Utah Valley 1-3-0

 

5 NM State 4-7-0

Utah Valley 3-8-0

 

6 Seattle U 7-8-0

NM State 5-7-2