Pac-12 announces softball players of the week

SAN FRANCISCO — The Pac-12 Conference office announced the softball weekly honors for play from Mar. 14-20. OREGON sophomore Gwen Svekis was named player of the week, ARIZONA’s Danielle O’Toole was tabbed pitcher of the week while UTAH rookie Ally Dickman was voted freshman of the week.

Svekis (Davie, Fla.) led the Ducks to a pair of wins at No. 7/8 ranked Washington on Saturday and Sunday. Svekis mashed a homer in Saturday’s win before going yard twice on Sunday, including a grand slam in the first inning to put the Ducks ahead, 6-0. Oregon goes for the sweep on Monday night at 7 p.m. PT. This is Oregon’s 56th all-time weekly award.

O’Toole (Upland, Calif.) was dominant while appearing in all three games in Arizona’s series win at No. 21 ASU, posting a 1.00 ERA and an .857 WHIP. The redshirt junior started the weekend with a one-hit masterpiece, out-dueling ASU’s Kelsey Kessler in Arizona’s 2-0 victory. It was O’Toole’s second consecutive one-hit shutout dating back to the previous week. She followed that by entering in the seventh inning of game 2 and earning her second save of the season in a scoreless frame. For the weekend, O’Toole struck out eight Sun Devils and allowed six total hits in 14.0 innings pitched, good for a .128 batting average against. This is O’Toole’s second pitcher of the week honor this season and the 153rd all-time weekly nod for the Wildcats.

Dickman (Mission Viejo, Calif.) batted .333 as the Utes won more games than any other Pac-12 school on the week, going 4-1, 2-0 against league foes. The freshman was second on the team with six runs batted in, including the decisive two-run double in the opener over No. 24 Oregon State. She did not commit an error this week after moving from DP to right field and slugged .833. This is Utah’s 11th weekly accolade and first freshman weekly honors for the Utes this season.

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 second season of freshman of the week honors.

This week, Oregon wraps up its series with Washington in Seattle on Monday at 7 p.m. PT. Arizona hosts Utah beginning on Thursday at 7 p.m. PT. The Pac-12 Networks full television information can be found here.

Also Nominated:

PLAYER: Mandie Perez, ARIZ; Natalie Hampton, OSU; Mysha Sataraka, UCLA; Heather Bowen, UTAH; Ali Aguilar, WASH.

PITCHER: Megan Kleist, ORE; Paige McDuffee, UCLA; Casey Stangel, WASH.

FRESHMAN: Taylor McQuillin, ARIZ; Paige Halstead, UCLA.

2016 SOFTBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK