United Athletic Conference

This Week in WAC Softball - FINAL

6/15/2022 12:00:00 AM

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GRAND CANYON COMPETES IN FIRST NCAA TOURNAMENT TO LOS ANGELES REGIONAL
By earning the WAC’s automatic berth into the NCAA tournament with their conference tournament victory, the Lopes were sent to the Los Angeles Regional hosted by UCLA.

The top-seeded Bruins won the opener against Grand Canyon by a 5-1 count on May 20. In an elimination game the next day against Ole Miss, the Lopes jumped out a 5-0 lead after the first inning. The second-seeded Rebels chipped away and eventually took the lead with a four-run seventh inning in claiming a 9-5 victory.

TARLETON, STEPHEN F. AUSTIN EARN NISC POSTSEASON INIVITATION
The WAC tandem of Stephen F. Austin and Tarleton earned postseason bids to the NISC

In their first NCAA Division I postseason event, Tarleton lost an 18-15 slugfest to North Alabama to open the event. The Texans stayed alive with a 6-4 win against UC San Diego. However, their season closed out with a 6-4 loss to UNLV. Tarleton’s Georgia Capell earned all-tournament honors for her play during the event.

Stephen F. Austin, the WAC’s Southwest Division champion, lost their opener to Bowling Green 7-3 then dropped an 8-0 decision to Kansas to conclude their 2022 campaign.

GRAND CANYON CLAIM WAC TOURNAMENT TITLE
Heading into the day, there was only one thing for sure. Grand Canyon or Stephen F. Austin were going to win their first WAC tournament title.

After Stephen F. Austin staved-off elimination with a 4-2 victory to start championship Saturday to set-up a winner-take-all game in the late afternoon.

In that contest, the Ladyjacks jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning when MacKenzie Bennett hit a three-run homerun. In the bottom of the third frame, Grand Canyon pulled within one-run as Katelyn Dunnkel and Denae Chatmanm recorded RBI base knocks. In the fourth inning Hannah Burnett drew a two-out base loaded walk on full count to knot the score at 3-3. Dunckel gave the Lopes the lead on the next pitch with a single up the middle which scored Gianna Nicoletti and Emma Villaescusa.

The Ladyjacks pulled within a run when a Mikaelah Burkland RBI single made their deficit 5-4. A Danae Chatman homerun in the fifth frame rounded out the scoring.

Ariel Thompson pitched the final three innings to earn her second save of the season. The tournament MVP earned two of the three wins for the Lopes inside the circle.

ALL TOURNAMENT

Ariel Thompson (GCU) - MVP
Hannah Burnett (GCU)
Gianna Nicoletti (GCU)
Kassidy Wilbur (SFA)
MacKenzie Bennett (SFA)
Gaby Garcia (SFA)
Carley Nance (SU)
Madison Kahwaty (SU)
Kayla Bowen (NMSU)
Laurali Patane (NMSU)
Madison Carr (UVU)


WAC POSTSEASON SOFTBALL WINNERS ANNOUNCED

The Western Athletic Conference announced its 2022 All-WAC teams and major awards as selected by the league’s 11 head coaches. Carley Nance, from Seattle U, was named WAC Player of the Year with Stephen F. Austin’s Kassidy Wilbur claiming Pitcher of the Year accolades, Seattle U’s Grace Luderer was named WAC Freshman of the Year. Hannah Hughbanks was named the Defensive Player of the Year while playing first base for Dixie State. Grand Canyon’s Shannon Hays was voted the conference’s Coach of the Year.

Nance did everything for the Redhawks this season. As a hitter she posted a .648 slugging percentage while getting on-base at a .414 clip. She was second in the WAC with 14 homeruns while leading the league with 56 RBI. Inside the circle, Nance was third in the WAC with a 2.38 ERA while recording six wins and a pair of saves in 17 appearances. The lefthander was ninth in the conference with 87 strikeouts.

Wilbur was a stalwart in the circle for the Ladyjacks. While helping the program to the WAC’s Southwest Division crown, she tied for the league lead in wins (19) while striking out a conference best 219 batters. She limited the opposition to a .211 batting average while recording a WAC high 37 appearances. In her 18 complete games she registered a league high six shutouts.

Luderer impressed during her first collegiate season. The righthanded pitcher tallied a seven-win campaign with 97 total strikeouts in her 26 appearances. She threw eight complete games for the Redhawks and limited the opposing batters to a .243 batting average.  

Hughbanks was stellar at first base for the Trailblazers. In 302 chances she committed just two errors while recording a .993 fielding percentage. She was apart of a league high 17 double plays and was sixth in the conference in putouts (288) and total chances (302).

In his first year at the helm, Hays led the Lopes to the WAC’s Western Division title and the league’s best regular season record (19-5). Grand Canyon will serve as the No. 1 during the upcoming WAC postseason tournament. The Lopes offense was stellar as they led the league in batting average (.333), runs scored (314), total bases (614), RBI (275), on-base percentage (.401) and slugging percentage (.512).

Pitcher of the Year: Kassidy Wilbur, Stephen F. Austin
Player of the Year: Carly Nance, Seattle U
Freshman of the Year: Grace Luderer, Seattle U
Defensive Player of the Year:  Hannah Hughbanks, Dixie State
Coach of the Year: Shannon Hays, Grand Canyon

First Team - School
Georgia Capell - Tarleton
Madison Carr - Utah Valley
DeNae Chatman - Grand Canyon
Shea Clements - Dixie State
Katelyn Dunckel - Grand Canyon
Kristin Fifield - Grand Canyon
Hannah Hughbanks - Dixie State
Ramsay Lopez - NM State
Carley Nance - Seattle U
Gianna Nicoletti - Grand Canyon
Linnah Rebolledo - Utah Valley
Ariel Thompson - Grand Canyon
Kassidy Wilbur - Stephen F. Austin

All Defensive Team - School
Katelyn Dunckel - Grand Canyon
Lily Garcia - Seattle U
Hannah Hughbanks - Dixie State
Madison Kahwaty - Seattle U
Kinsey Koeltzow - Grand Canyon
Tiana Patrick - California Baptist
Stephanie Reed - Grand Canyon
Sydney Soto - California Baptist
Jillian Taylor - NM State|
Olivia Viggiano - Seattle U

CONFERENCE LEADERS

Offense
Batting Average: Madison Carr (UVU) - .453
RBI: Carley Nance (SU) - 58
Runs: Gianna Nicoletti (GCU) - 62
Home Runs: Georgia Capell (TAR) - 19
On Base Percentage: Calie Burris (ACU) - .517

Pitching
Wins: Kassidy Wilbur (SFA) - 22
Innings Pitched: Kassidy Wilbur (SFA) - 216.2
Complete Games: Kassidy Wilbur (SFA) - 22
Strikeouts: Kassidy Wilbur (SFA) - 238
Saves: Alyssa Argomaniz (CBU) - 4
ERA: Carley Nance (SU) - 2.11

NEW WAC RECORD
Over the final weekend of the season Grand Canyon’s Gianna Nicoletti  set the conference single season stolen base record. She finished the year with 51 stolen bases to her credit. Utah’s Sandy Rhea had the record when she tallied 46 during the 1997 campaign.

TOP 10 IN THE NATION
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)
Offense
Madison Carr, UVU Batting Average 3rd (.453)
Madison Carr, UVU Hits 6th (82)
Gianna Nicoletti, GCU Total Stolen Bases 3rd (51)
Gianna Nicoletti, GCU Stolen Bases Per Game 3rd (0.96)

Pitching
Carley Nance, SU Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio 5th (9.09)
Carley Nance, SU Walks Allowed per 7 innings 6th (0.72)

Grand Canyon finished the season with the 10th best team batting average in the nation (.328). Moreover, as a team Grand Canyon ranks sixth in the nation with 2.33 stolen bases per game.

NCAA RPI
As a conference the WAC ranks 20th in adjusted RPI. There are 32 NCAA Division I softball playing conferences.
Grand Canyon (81st) ranks in the top 100 with Seattle U (107) just outside the top 100. California Baptist’s ranking of 109th just behind the WAC RPI leaders. Among southwest division schools, Stephen F. Austin (120th) has the best RPI ranking.


SEATTLE U, STEPHEN F. AUSTIN PICKED TO WIN 2022 WAC DIVISION TITLES
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.

PRESEASON ALL-WAC TEAM
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
!Stefanie Madrigal (SU) Jr., RHP
!Gianna Nicoletti (GCU) Sr., OF
!Linnah Rebolledo (UVU) Sr., INF/OF
Kalena Shepherd (UVU) Jr., C
$Olivia Viggiano (SU) Sr., OF
Kassidy Wilbur (SFA) Sr., RHP

SAM HOUSTON TO HOST 2022 WAC TOURNAMENT
Sam Houston will serve as hosts for the season ending WAC tournament from May 11-14 at the Bearkat Softball Complex in Hunstville, Texas.

2021 WAC REGULAR SEASON CONFERENCE  RECAP
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.

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE 2021 WAC TOURNAMENT
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