Pac-12 announces softball players of the week

SAN FRANCISCO - The Pac-12 Conference office announced the softball weekly honors for play from Apr. 6-12. OREGON’s Janelle Lindvall was voted Player of the Week, while UO’s Cheridan Hawkins was named Pitcher of the Week and UTAH’s Heather Bowen was named Freshman of the Week. 

Lindvall (Stevenson Ranch, Calif.) had a big weekend for Oregon as the No. 2 Ducks swept No. 19 Arizona State. It marked UO’s first sweep of ASU since 1989 and its first series win over the Sun Devils since 2005. Lindvall went 5-for-8 in the series, scoring three runs and posting six RBI with one home run, a grand slam in a 7-0 victory on Friday. She also went 3-for-3 with a walk in Saturday’s 12-3, six-inning win. The junior catcher now leads the Ducks with 36 RBI on the season. 

Hawkins (Anderson, Calif.) picked up two wins in the Ducks’ three-game sweep of Arizona State. The junior began the week opening the series with a two-hit shutout on Friday, marking her eighth shutout of the season. Hawkins held the Sun Devils hitless through six innings before the no-hit bid was broken up with a double, and she allowed just one more hit in the seventh, striking out six batters in her seven innings of work. The Ducks clinched the sweep with a 4-3 victory on Sunday, where Hawkins fell victim to a pair of ASU long balls but struck out six batters to pick up her 18th win of the year. Overall on the weekend, Hawkins struck out more batters (12) than she allowed hits, walks and runs combined (11). 

Bowen (Las Vegas, Nev.) paced the Utah offense this weekend, leading the Utes with five hits, four runs scored, a pair of home runs and five RBI as Utah swept Oregon State. She registered a .500 batting average while helping guide Utah to its first-ever sweep over a Pac-12 team on the road since the Utes joined the league in 2012. The true freshman totaled 11 bases for a team-best 1.100 slugging percentage and had a pair of walks to boast a .583 on-base percentage. Her week was highlighted by going 3-for-3 in Saturday’s 7-5 win over Oregon State, hitting a solo home run – her second of the series – and scoring a pair of runs to go with three RBI. She was also a threat on the base paths for the Utes, collecting a pair of steals in her two stolen base attempts. 

It marks the first-career weekly honor for Lindvall, while Hawkins picks up her 10th-career weekly selection, tied for the seventh-most in Pac-12 history. Oregon now has 58 weekly honors all-time. Bowen’s first-career weekly honor gives Utah six honors all-time. 

Oregon heads to the Bay Area to play a three-game series at Stanford beginning Saturday, Apr. 18. Saturday and Monday’s games will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks, while Sunday’s game will be broadcast on ESPNU. Utah hosts Arizona in a three-game series beginning Friday, Apr. 17 with all three contests scheduled to be televised on Pac-12 Networks. For more information, including a full schedule, visit www.pac-12.com. 

Also Nominated
Player: Mo Mercado, ARIZ; Cheyenne Cordes, CAL; Hanna Winter, STAN; Allexis Bennett, UCLA; Heather Bowen, UTAH; Ali Aguilar, WASH. 
Pitcher: Katie Sutherland-Finch, CAL; Kylie Sorenson, STAN; Selina Ta’amilo, UCLA; Katie Donovan, UTAH. 
Freshman: Lauren Lindvall, ORE; Kaitlyn Lagattuta, STAN; Maddy Jelenicki, UCLA. 

2015 PAC-12 SOFTBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK