Pac-12 announces softball players of the week

SAN FRANCISCO - The Pac-12 Conference office announced the softball weekly honors for play from Feb. 16-22. OREGON’s Jenna Lilley was voted Player of the Week, while CALIFORNIA’s Katie Sutherland-Finch was named Pitcher of the Week and UTAH pitcher Katie Donovan was named Freshman of the Week. 

Lilley (North Canton, Ohio) picks up her second-career Player of the Week honor after hitting .500 on 15-for-30 batting for the Ducks over a nine-game road trip. The freshman drove in eight runs while scoring nine on her own, hitting five doubles and a triple with two walks and four stolen bases on the week. She had multiple hits in six of her nine games and scored multiple runs in three games for the Ducks. Lilley had her biggest game of the week against No. 25 Tulsa, driving in all four UO runs with a bases-clearing three-run double and an RBI single in the 4-1 win. The third base player has had a hit in all but one game to start her career and, on the season, leads UO with a .510 average, 18 runs scored and six doubles. 

Sutherland-Finch (Hillboro, Ore.) pitched 26.0 innings in four complete games to help Cal to a near-perfect week at one of the nation’s top softball tournaments, the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, and against crosstown rival St. Mary’s earlier in the week. The sophomore threw 19 strikeouts, allowing just five total runs, four of which were earned, for a 1.08 cumulative earned run average. Her week was highlighted by a complete-game shutout upset over No. 10 Tennessee, striking out a career-high nine batters and allowing just five hits in the 1-0 victory. Sutherland-Finch also picked up wins over St. Mary’s, 9-1, and LIU Brooklyn, 11-1, both in six innings, and had a 1-3 loss to South Carolina. 

Donovan (Salem, Ore.) posted a 2.88 ERA in 24.1 innings of work, picking up two wins with a complete game and a save as the Utes played in the competitive Mary Nutter Classic. The right-handed pitcher threw 21 strikeouts, allowing 10 earned runs and 15 hits in her six total appearances. Donovan was dominant in her complete-game victory over No. 10 Tennessee, yielding just three runs to a team that was averaging more than eight runs per game as the Utes upset the Lady Vols, 4-3. She picked up the save against UC Santa Barbara in a combined shutout for her second save of the season, marking Utah’s most saves for a single player since 2008. 

It is the second-career weekly honor for Lilley, who earned the accolade in the opening week of 2015, and marks Oregon’s 50th total weekly selection. Sutherland-Finch and Donovan both earn their first-career weekly honors, with Cal now totaling 87 selections and Utah totaling four. A player of the week has been selected every week since 1989, with the pitcher of the week honor dating back to 1992. This is the inaugural season of freshman of the week honors. 

Oregon plays in the San Diego Classic in San Diego, Calif., beginning Friday, Feb. 27. California and Utah both head to Honolulu for the Hawai’i Spring Fling beginning Thursday, Feb. 26. For more information, including a full schedule, visit www.pac-12.com.

Also Nominated
Player: Kellie Fox, ARIZ; Chelsea Gonzales, ASU; Dani Gilmore, OSU; Kayla Bonstrom, STAN; Stephany LaRosa, UCLA; Kate Dickman, UTAH; Taylor Van Zee, WASH. 
Pitcher: Cheridan Hawkins, ORE; Madi Schreyer, STAN; Johanna Grauer, UCLA; Katie Donovan, UTAH. 
Freshman: Kobie Pettis, CAL; Jenna Lilley, ORE; McKenna Arriola, OSU; Johanna Grauer, UCLA. 

2015 PAC-12 SOFTBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK