Schedule
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Standings
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Pac-12
Stati
stics
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NCAA Statistics
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Record Book
SAN FRANCISCO -
A Top 25 matchup in Salt Lake City highlights this weekend's schedule, as Pac-12 softball continues down the stretch of its regular season.
No. 2 UCLA is at No. 23 Utah for a trio of games broadcast on Pac-12 Networks and a chance to clinch the Pac-12 regular-season title outright. The Bruins, which have won 17 games in a row, have already secured a share of the championship with a sweep of Arizona State last weekend. UCLA needs just one victory to be outright champions and wrap up the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Pac-12 Softball Tournament.
The Utes are the only team that has a chance to catch UCLA. Utah would need to sweep the Bruins this weekend and the Ducks next weekend to earn a share of the regular-season championship. Doing so would give the Utes the tiebreaker over the Bruins and the top seed at the Pac-12 Tournament.
The Bruins, 18-3 in league, are four games clear of second-place and No. 10 Washington at 14-7. The Bruins wrap up their Conference slate this weekend, while Washington is on its Pac-12 bye and finishes next weekend at No. 9 Stanford and Utah has six Pac-12 games remaining.
Just 2.5 games separate second-place Washington from the fifth-place Cardinal (10-8), so jockeying for Tournament seeding will continue in earnest with two regular-season weekends remaining.
In addition to UCLA at Utah, No. 14 Oregon, which has won nine straight, will look to continue its solid stretch at California, Arizona hosts Oregon State looking to snap a 13-game Conference losing, and Arizona State hosts Stanford in an attempt to stop its seven-game Pac-12 skid.
USA SOFTBALL COLLEGIATE PLAYER OF THE YEAR FINALISTS:
Five from the Pac-12 were
named to USA Softball's list of 25 finalists
for the 2023 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year on April 19 in
Maya
Brady
(UCLA),
NiJaree
Canady
(Stanford),
Megan
Faraimo
(UCLA),
Baylee
Klingler
(Washington) and
Alana
Vawter
(Stanford).
-
Pac-12 student-athletes have won the honor six times previously since it began in 2002, most recently by UCLA's
Rachel
Garcia
in 2018 and 2019.
-
Each of the three Pac-12 schools represented on the list of finalists have a previous winner. In addition to Garcia,
Stacey
Nuveman
won for the Bruins in 2022, Washington's
Danielle
Lawrie
took home back-to-back awards in 2009 and 2010, and Stanford's
Ashley
Hansen
won in 2011.
-
The Top 25 Finalists will be narrowed down to 10 athletes on May 3, followed by the Top 3 Finalists set to be released on May 17. The 2023 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year will be revealed prior to the Womens College World Series.
WBSC WORLD CUP ROSTER:
On April 14, a national-best eight players from the Pac-12 were
named to USA Softball's first U.S. Womens National Team (WNT) roster of the 2023 season
that will compete at the WBSC World Cup from July 11-15 in Fingal-Dublin, Ireland.
-
Ali
Aguilar
(Washington),
Sis
Bates
(Washington),
Maya
Brady
(UCLA),
Ally
Carda
(UCLA),
Megan
Faraimo
(UCLA),
Hannah
Flippen
(Utah),
Baylee
Klingler
(Washington) and
Gwen
Svekis
(Oregon), will be led in Ireland by Team USA and UW head coach
Heather
Tarr
.
-
UCLA and Washington lead all programs with three players apiece on the 16-person roster.
-
Competing in Group A, the U.S. will be joined by world-ranked No. 3 Chinese Taipei, No. 9 Australia, No. 16 Great Britain, No. 17 Ireland and No. 43 Botswana.
WOMEN'S PRO FASTPITCH DRAFT:
Led by first-round picks
Baylee
Klingler
and
Megan
Faraimo
, a total of
five Pac-12 softball student-athletes were selected in the 2023 Women's Professional Fastpitch Draft
on April 17 in Oklahoma City.
-
Lasting six rounds with four selections per round, the 24-pick event featured the Pac-12's five all chosen within the first 16 picks.
-
Klingler, the 2022 Pac-12 Player of the Year, went No. 2 overall to the Texas Smoke, while Faraimo, the Conference's reigning Pitcher of the Year, was chosen fourth overall by the USSSA Pride. The Pac-12 was the only league with multiple first-round selections.
-
Faraimo's UCLA teammate,
Brooke
Yanez
, was also chosen by the USSSA Pride in the third round with the 12th overall pick. In the fourth round, California's
Makena
Smith
went to the Smash It Sports Vipers with pick No. 15 overall and was follow one selection later by Oregon's
Allee
Bunker
, who was taken 16th overall by the USSSA Pride.
RANKINGS ROUNDUP:
Seven of the league's nine teams are receiving votes in the latest
USA Today
/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll
, including five the in the top 25.
-
UCLA, which spent a week at No. 1 earlier this season, is No. 2 and followed by No. 9 Stanford, No. 10 Washington, No. 14 Oregon and No. 23 Utah. With 13 points, California is second among a group of eight teams receiving votes, while Arizona is third with eight points.
-
At No. 14, the Ducks have risen to their highest spot in the poll this season and best since they were No. 14 on April 5, 2022.
-
Seven Conference teams were in the
USA TODAY
/NFCA preseason poll, the first time since 2013 and 12th time overall that the Pac-12 has had seven ranked teams to open the season, which tied the league's second-most all-time. All eight Pac-10 softball programs were in the preseason Top 25 in 2001.
-
ESPN.com/USA Softball
: #2Â UCLA, #8Â Stanford, #10Â Washington, #13 Oregon, #19 Utah, RVÂ California, RVÂ Arizona, RV Arizona State.
-
D1Softball
: #2Â UCLA, #10Â Stanford, #11 Washington, #17Â Oregon, #18 Utah.
-
Softball America
: #2Â UCLA, #10Â Stanford, #11 Washington, #13 Oregon, #16 Utah.
RPI CHECK-IN:
In the most recent update through games as of April 25, the Pac-12 is the nation's No. 3 conference according to the NCAA's Adjusted RPI rankings, but boasts the country's top strength of schedule.
-
Led by No. 2 UCLA, the Pac-12 has six of the nation's top 30 in Adjusted RPI, the second-highest total among all leagues (SEC). The Bruins are followed by No. 3 Stanford, No. 13 Washington, No. 18 Oregon, No. 26 Utah and No. 27 California.
-
Also in the top 50 are No. 44 Arizona and No. 47 Arizona State.
-
The Cardinal owns the nation's top strength of schedule, while Oregon State is second.
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS:
Through the season's first 11 weeks, Pac-12 programs have combined to go 176-42 (.807) against non-league foes, the best non-conference winning percentage in the country ahead of the SEC (.802; 297-73-1).
-
Last season, Pac-12 teams went 228-68-1 (.769) in non-league games, the second-best mark in the country behind the SEC (342-97; .779).
-
The Pac-12 is 16-15Â against NFCA-ranked opponents in non-conference games this season. After winning just one of its first seven, the league has gone 15-9Â (.625) against ranked non-conference foes since.
UTAH MAKING NOISE:
At 31-10, the Utes are off to their best 41-game start to a season since 2017 (32-9).
-
With just two Pac-12 series remaining, the Utes still have a chance to share the regular-season title with UCLA if they were to win their last six Conference games. Two weekends ago, Utah swept then-No. 5 Stanford, the last two in walk-off fashion, for its first three-game sweep of a top-five opponent in program history.
-
With six games remaining, Utah's 12 Conference wins are tied for its third-most in its 12 season as a member of the Pac-12 (13 - 2016, 2017; 12 - 2015).
-
Utah started by winning its first two Pac-12 series as a Conference member for the first time, including the program's first series victory over Arizona since 2017.
-
Utah stayed in the NFCA rankings at No. 23Â this week, its fifth appearance in that poll this year.
BRUINS LEADING:
Following a loss at Oregon on March 24, UCLA has reeled off 17 consecutive wins, including 14 in Conference, to bolt to the top of the Pac-12 standings at 18-3 with a four-game lead over Washington.
-
The Bruins' 14-game league winning streak is the longest active streak in the country among Power 5 programs. No. 1 Oklahoma is second with wins in 12 Big 12 contests in a row. UCLA's overall 17-game winning streak is third in the country behind only Oklahoma (34) and Boston U. (23).
-
The Bruins have already clinched a share of their 12th Pac-12 regular-season title and need just one more victory to win it outright.
-
Maya
Brady
is batting .449 with 15 home runs and 53 RBIs this season and is one of only two players in the country with those numbers along with Clemson's Valerie Cagle (.483, 18 HR, 53 RBIs). Brady leads the Pac-12 in batting average, hits (62), total bases (122), extra-base hits (27) and slugging percentage (.884), and ranks second in home runs and RBIs.
STANFORD'S STRONG START:
No. 9 in the latest NFCA rankings, the Cardinal has been a top-10 program in seven consecutive polls, its longest top-10 run since nine straight weeks from Feb. 23 to April 20, 2010.
-
Stanford had a 21-game winning streak snapped at Oregon on March 18. The Cardinal entered that series against the Ducks with eight consecutive shutouts and an
Allee
Bunker
RBI double in the third inning of game one on March 17 snapped a 56-inning scoreless streak.
-
The Cardinal is fourth in the nation in ERA (1.49), eighth in shutouts (17), third in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.97) and 11th in fielding percentage (.979).
-
The Cardinal's 21-game winning streak was its longest since winning 28 in a row from Feb. 7 - March 23, 2009.
-
At 34-10, the Cardinal is off to its best 44-game start to a season since 2011 (34-10).
WEEKLY AWARDS:
Oregon collected both Pac-12 Player and Pitcher of the Week awards following its first sweep of Arizona since 2018.
-
The Ducks'
Terra
McGowan
was voted Player of the Week after hitting .750 (6-for-8) and slugging 1.375 with two doubles, a home run, six RBIs and five runs scored.
-
Oregon's
Morgan
Scott
was voted Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week for her 11 2/3 innings of work without allowing an earned run. She struck out 11 and walked none en route to a 2-0 record.
-
Stanford's
NiJaree
Canady
was selected as Pac-12 Freshman of the Week for the second time this season after tossing 15 2/3 innings, allowing only eight hits and two earned runs (0.89 ERA). She's one of two Cardinal to win multiple Pac-12 Freshman of the Week awards (
Alana
Vawter
- 2021).
-
Nationally, Pac-12 players have collected five of the NFCA's 22 weekly awards thus far (player, pitcher). Utah's Mariah Lopez (Feb. 14, April 18) has won two Wilson/NFCA Pitcher of the Week awards this season, while UCLA's
Megan
Faraimo
received the honor for the second time in her career on March 21. Offensively, UCLA's
Maya
Brady
and Arizona's
Olivia
DiNardo
were named Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Players of the Week on Feb. 14 and March 7, respectively.
-
Pac-12 players have also won six of the 33 national awards (player, pitcher, freshman) handed out by D1 Softball.
QUICK HITTERS
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ARIZONA:
The Wildcats are seventh nationally in scoring, averaging 6.91 runs per game.
-
Freshman
Olivia
DiNardo
is fourth in the Conference with a .408 batting average. She is 46th in the NCAA and is sixth among the country's freshmen in that category.
-
ARIZONA STATE:
Senior infielder
Jordyn
VanHook
is tied for fifth in the nation with 18 home runs after launching just five in her first three seasons. Half of her 36 hits in 2023 have gone over the fence. She is second in the NCAA in home runs per game (0.44).
-
CALIFORNIA:
Cal's Conference-leading 59Â home runs are third on the team single-season record list. The Bears' 64 home runs as a team (2013) are the second most all-time and the school single-season record is 84 in 2012. Cal's 131 extra-base hits (59 HR, 67 2B, 5 3B) lead the Pac-12 with Washington (124) in second and Arizona (119) in third.
-
The Golden Bears took down then-No. 2 UCLA on March 11, 8-0, for their first win over a top-five team since 2012. They took two of three from Arizona State March 24-26, their first series win against the Sun Devils since 2012.
-
OREGON:
Over the weekend against Arizona,
Allee
Bunker
became the only player in program history to be ranked in the UO career top five in hits, doubles, runs and RBIs. She's now third in hits (269), second in doubles (45) and fifth in runs (157) and RBIs (156).
-
Oregon is on a season-best nine-game winning streak. The Ducks' pitching staff has a 0.97 ERA in that span.
-
OREGON STATE:
With 53 career home runs,
Frankie
Hammoude
has set the school record (
Tarrah
Beyster
- 52 - 1997-2000).
-
STANFORD:
Stanford is tied for eighth nationally with 17Â total shutouts in its first 44 games. Last year, the Cardinal tied for fourth in the country with 21 shutouts in 61 games.
-
NiJaree
Canady
has only given up three earned run in 69 1/3 innings and leads the country with a 0.30Â ERA this season.
-
Fellow first-year
River
Mahler
is fifth in the Conference in batting average (.402) and eighth among all NCAA freshmen.
-
UCLA:
Megan
Faraimo
is 32 strikeouts away from becoming just the third player in UCLA history to record 1,000 strikeouts in a career. In the 1,000 K club are
Anjelica
Selden
(1,441; 2005-08) and
Keira
Goerl
(1,095; 2001-04).
-
Two of the Conference's top five in RBIs are UCLA freshmen in
Megan
Grant
(T2nd, 53) and
Jordan
Woolery
(5th, 43).
-
UTAH:
The Utes are eighth in the country in batting average, hitting .330 as a team, and 10th in scoring, averaging 6.59Â runs per game. Utah's 2.15 steals per game average is 18th nationally and its 88 total stolen bases are just four shy of the school record of 92Â set in 1994.
-
WASHINGTON:
With a 15-4Â record this season, first-year pitcher
Ruby
Meylan
is tied for 42nd nationally in total victories and is fourth in the Conference. Meylan's win total is tied for third in the NCAA among freshmen.
STAT LINES
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NCAA Top-10 Team Rankings:
Batting Avg.
- UCLA (3rd, .345), Arizona (5th, .335), Utah (9th, .328);
ERA
- Stanford (4th, 1.49), UCLA (7th, 57);
Fielding %
- Arizona (2nd, .983), Washington (6th, .981);
OBP
- UCLA (9th, .423), Arizona (10th, .418);
Scoring
- Arizona (6th, 6.91), Utah (10th, 6.52);
Shutouts
- UCLA (5th, 18), Stanford (8th, 17);
Strikeout-to-walk ratio
- UCLA (2nd, 5.56); Stanford (3rd, 4.97);
Winning %
- UCLA (2nd; .915).
-
NCAA Top-10 Individual Rankings:
ERA -
NiJaree Canady,
STAN (1st, 0.30);
Hits allowed per seven innings
- NiJaree Canady, STAN (1st, 2.32);
Home runs
- Jordyn VanHook, ASU (5th, 18);
Home runs per game
- Jordyn VanHook, ASU (2nd, 0.44);
RBIs
- Allie Skaggs, ARIZ (3rd, 57), Maya Brady, UCLA (9th, 53), Megan Grant, UCLA (9th, 53);
RBIs per game
- Allie Skaggs, ARIZ (6th, 1.24), Ellessa Bonstrom, UTAH (10th, 1.18);
Sacrifice flies
- Megan Grant, UCLA (10th, 5), Julia Jimenez, UTAH (10th, 5);
Saves
- Marissa Schuld, ASU (10th, 5), Morgan Scott, ORE (10th, 5), Ruby Meylan, WASH (10th, 5);
Slugging %
-Â Maya Brady, UCLA (9th, .884), Jordyn VanHook, ASU (10th, .865);
Strikeout-to-walk ratio
- NiJaree Canady, STAN (4th, 8.36);
Strikeouts
- Megan Faraimo, UCLA (7th, 200);
Strikeouts per seven innings
- NiJaree Canady, STAN (1st, 11.8);
Total bases
- Maya Brady, UCLA (3rd, 122);
Toughest to strikeout
- Baylee Klingler, WASH (7th, 34.0);
Triples
- Taylor Gindlesperger, STAN (9th, 6);
Victories
- Megan Faraimo, UCLA (1st, 24).
powHER OF THE PAC:
All nine Pac-12 softball programs are led by female head coaches.
-
The Pac-12 is one of just two leagues in the country that features exclusively female head coaches (Ivy League).
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Six of the nine are leading their alma maters -
Jessica
Allister
(STAN),
Amy
Hogue
(UTAH),
Kelly
Inouye-Perez
(UCLA),
Caitlin
Lowe
(ARIZ),
Chelsea
Spencer
(CAL) and
Heather
Tarr
(WASH).
PRESEASON PAC-12 COACHES POLL
: For the third consecutive season,
UCLA was voted by the Conferences softball head coaches as the leagues preseason favorite
for the upcoming campaign.
-
The Bruins, which have made seven straight trips to the Women's College World Series, collected all eight available first-place votes and totaled 64 points to top the annual poll. It's the first time since 2016 (Oregon) that a Pac-12 team has garnered every available first-place vote. Coaches may not vote for their own teams.
-
Stanford was second with 54 points, and followed closely by Washington (53 points), which picked up the remaining first-place vote. Coming off its first Super Regional appearance since 2011, the Cardinal boasts its highest-ever position in the preseason poll. Stanford had been picked third twice previously, in 2002 and 2006.
-
Oregon collected 39 points and Arizona 30 to round out the top portion of the rankings. Oregon State was sixth (25 points), California seventh (21 points), Utah eighth (20 points) and Arizona State ninth (18 points).
PAC-12 SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT:
Arizona's Hillenbrand Stadium will serve as the host site for the
inaugural Pac-12 Softball Tournament
, which is set to make its debut from May 10-13, 2023. The four-day event will begin with a play-in game between the eighth and ninth-place teams in the regular-season standings on Wednesday. That winner will advance to an eight-team, single-elimination bracket with the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship being contested on the following three days. The winner of the Pac-12 Softball Tournament will receive the Conferences automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Limited tickets are still available by visiting
pac12.me/SBTix
.
RETURNING ALL-AMERICANS:
The Pac-12 returns six NFCA All-Americans from a season ago, including the league's reigning Player (
Baylee
Klingler
, WASH) and Pitcher (
Megan
Faraimo
, UCLA) of the Year. In addition to Klingler (first-team All-American) and Faraimo (second-team AA), also back are Arizona State's
Yannira
Acua
(second-team AA), Arizona's
Allie
Skaggs
(second-team AA), California's
Makena
Smith
(third-team AA) and Utah's
Ellessa
Bonstrom
(third-team AA).
PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE:
The Conference's six returning All-Americans are also
featured on the first-ever Preseason All-Pac-12 Team
, which was voted on by the league's head coaches. UCLA has a league-high five players on the team in
Maya
Brady
, Faraimo,
Aaliyah
Jordan
,
Sharlize
Palacios
and
Brooke
Yanez
. Washington is second with four (
Madison
Huskey
, Klingler,
Lindsay
Lopez
,
Sami
Reynolds
).
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
The nations most successful softball conference, Pac-12 programs have combined to win 24 of the 40 NCAA softball championships all-time, 18 more than the next closest league, and all nine Pac-12 teams have made appearances in the Womens College World Series. Of the 13 different programs to have won an NCAA softball championship, five are from the Pac-12: UCLA (12), Arizona (8), Arizona State (2), California (1) and Washington (1).
MORE PAC-12 SOFTBALL:
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
(
Full Schedule
)
Wednesday, April 26
|
|
|
California at Saint Mary's
|
WCC Network
|
3 p.m. PT
|
#9 Stanford at Fresno State
|
Mountain West Network
|
6 p.m. PT
|
Washington at Seattle U
|
ESPN+
|
6 p.m. PT
|
Thursday, April 27
|
|
|
#14 Oregon at Pacific
|
WCC Network
|
4 p.m. PT
|
Friday, April 28
|
|
|
#14 Oregon at California
|
California Live Stream
|
3 p.m. PT
|
#2 UCLA at #23 Utah
|
Pac-12 Los Angeles
Pac-12 Mountain
|
5 p.m. PT
|
Oregon State at Arizona
|
Arizona Live Stream
|
6 p.m. PT
|
#9 Stanford at Arizona State
|
Arizona State Live Stream
|
6 p.m. PT
|
Saturday, April 29
|
|
|
#14 Oregon at California
|
California Live Stream
|
1 p.m. PT
|
#2 UCLA at #23 Utah
|
Pac-12 Los Angeles
Pac-12 Mountain
|
1 p.m. PT
|
#9 Stanford at Arizona State
|
Arizona State Live Stream
|
5 p.m. PT
|
Oregon State at Arizona
|
Arizona Live Stream
|
6 p.m. PT
|
Sunday, April 29
|
|
|
#2 UCLA at #23 Utah
|
Pac-12 Los Angeles
Pac-12 Mountain
|
11 a.m. PT
|
Utah Valley at #10 Washington
|
Pac-12 Washington
|
11 a.m. PT
|
Oregon State at Arizona
|
Arizona Live Stream
|
noon PT
|
#14 Oregon at California
|
California Live Stream
|
noon PT
|
#9 Stanford at Arizona State
|
Arizona State Live Stream
|
noon PT
|
Monday, May 1
|
|
|
#2 UCLA at BYU
|
BYUtv
|
noon PT
|
CONFERENCE STANDINGS
(
Expanded Standings
)
Teams
|
Pac-12 Record
|
Overall Record
|
#2 UCLA
|
18-3
|
44-4
|
#10 Washington
|
14-7
|
33-10
|
#23 Utah
|
12-6
|
31-10
|
#14 Oregon
|
11-7
|
31-11
|
#9 Stanford
|
10-8
|
34-10
|
California
|
7-10-1
|
30-14-1
|
Arizona State
|
5-13
|
21-20
|
Oregon State
|
3-14-1
|
12-25-1
|
Arizona
|
3-15
|
25-21
|
PAC-12 SOFTBALL WEEKLY AWARDS
|
Player
|
Pitcher
|
Freshman
|
Feb. 13
|
Maya Brady, UCLA
|
Megan Faraimo, UCLA
|
Taylor Tinsley, UCLA
|
Feb. 20
|
Jordyn VanHook, ASU
|
NiJaree Canady, STAN
|
NiJaree Canady, STAN
|
Feb. 27
|
Devyn Netz, ARIZ
|
Stevie Hansen, ORE
|
Ruby Meylan, WASH
|
March 6
|
Olivia DiNardo, ARIZ
|
NiJaree Canady, STAN
|
Olivia DiNardo, STAN
|
March 13
|
Ellessa Bonstrom, UTAH
|
Brooke Yanez, UCLA
|
Megan Grant, UCLA
|
March 20
|
Ellessa Bonstrom, UTAH
|
Megan Faraimo, UCLA
|
Abby Dayton, UTAH
|
March 27
|
Madison Huskey, WASH
|
Megan Faraimo, UCLA
|
Alana Johnson, WASH
|
April 3
|
Aaliyah Jordan, UCLA
|
Megan Faraimo, UCLA
|
Elon Butler, CAL
|
April 10
|
Sami Reynolds, WASH
|
Alana Vawter, STAN
|
Abby Dayton, UTAH
|
April 17
|
Maya Brady, UCLA
|
Mariah Lopez, UTAH
|
Megan Grant, UCLA
|
April 24
|
Terra McGowan, ORE
|
Morgan Scott, ORE
|
NiJaree, Canady, STAN
|
NATIONAL WEEKLY HONORS
|
Award - Recipient
|
Feb. 14
|
Louisville Slugger/NFCA Player of the Week - Maya Brady, UCLA
|
Feb. 14
|
Wilson/NFCA Pitcher of the Week - Mariah Lopez, UTAH
|
Feb. 14
|
D1 Softball Player of the Week - Maya Brady, UCLA
|
Feb. 14
|
D1 Softball Freshman of the Week - Ruby Meylan, WASH
|
Feb. 21
|
D1 Softball Freshman of the Week - NiJaree Canady, STAN
|
Feb. 27
|
D1 Softball Player of the Week - Devyn Netz, ARIZ
|
Feb. 27
|
D1 Softball Pitcher of the Week - Stevie Hansen, ORE
|
March 7
|
Louisville Slugger/NFCA Player of the Week - Olivia DiNardo, ARIZ
|
March 7
|
D1 Softball Freshman of the Week - NiJaree Canady, STAN
|
March 21
|
Wilson/NFCA Pitcher of the Week - Megan Faraimo, UCLA
|
April 18
|
Wilson/NFCA Pitcher of the Week - Mariah Lopez, UTAH
|