Pac-12 announces softball players of the week

SAN FRANCISCO - The Pac-12 Conference office announced the softball weekly honors for play from Mar. 9-15. OREGON’s Koral Costa was voted Player of the Week, while UCLA’s Ally Carda was named Pitcher of the Week for the second-straight week and UO’s Gwen Svekis was named Freshman of the Week. 

Costa (San Pedro, Calif.) continued a hot bat as the Ducks swept a three-game series from Oregon State. The junior hit 5-for-8 in the series, recording five runs, six RBI, two home runs, two walks and a double in the three run-rule victories. Costa homered in the opener and then hit another long ball in the Ducks’ historic 23-12 win in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader. The 23 UO runs were the most ever scored by an Oregon team in any game, and the 35 combined runs made it the highest scoring Civil War game ever. Costa leads the team with seven home runs this season and is hitting .361 with 19 runs scored and 18 RBI. The outfielder is slugging .787 on the year with a .451 on-base percentage. 

Carda (Elk Grove, Calif.) factored in all four victories for UCLA, earning three wins and a save. The senior struck out 30 batters in 20.0 innings of work, giving up only seven hits, two runs and one walk. She began by tying a career high with 14 strikeouts against No. 13 Baylor and also drove in the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh. Carda then posted 16 strikeouts in the three-game series sweep of Utah, pitching 13.0 total innings against the Utes. She leads the Bruins’ pitching staff with a 14-3 record, a 1.49 earned run average and 150 strikeouts in 98 2/3 innings. 

Svekis (Davie, Fla.) had one of the best games in Oregon softball history as the Ducks broke the school scoring record in a 23-12 run-rule win over Oregon State in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader at Howe Field in Eugene, Ore. She started the game with a three-run homer, followed with a two-run triple, then capped her day with a grand slam. The freshman’s nine RBI are the most ever in UO single-game history, besting the previous record of seven. She entered Sunday with 14 RBI and exited with a team-high 22 so far on the year. Svekis is slugging 1.103 this season and hitting a team-high .538. 

It is the first-career weekly selection for Svekis and Costa, giving Oregon 52 weekly honors all-time. Carda picks up her fifth-career weekly honor for UCLA’s 135th all-time selection.

The Ducks travel to Salt Lake City for a three-game series at Utah beginning Saturday, Mar. 21. The Bruins also hit the road, heading to Seattle for a series at Washington starting Saturday, with all three games of the series to be televised on Pac-12 Networks. For more information, including a full schedule, visit www.pac-12.com.

Also Nominated
Player: Ally Carda, UCLA; Ali Aguilar, WASH. 
Pitcher: Cheridan Hawkins, ORE. 
Freshman: Selina Ta’amilo, UCLA. 

2015 PAC-12 SOFTBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK