DENVER Nevada’s Vanessa Briones and Jordan McPherson have been named the Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively. This is the first career honor for Briones, and the fourth honor for McPherson.
Briones, a senior outfielder from Ontario, Calif. (Don Antonio Lugo) continued her torrid hitting with a phenomenal week against Louisiana Tech. The outfielder batted .700 (7-for-10) as Nevada swept the Lady Techsters and ran its win streak to seven straight. Briones slammed two home runs, scored six runs and had five RBI in the series. She recorded a 1.300 slugging percentage for the week. Briones leads the WAC in hitting with a .486 average.
McPherson, a senior from Simi Valley, Calif. (Royal) made Senior Day at Nevada a special occasion as she combined on a no-hitter against Louisiana Tech on Saturday. McPherson pitched four innings of no-hit ball and fellow senior Richelle Villescas closed out the no-hitter in an 8-0 victory. In the series, McPherson went 2-0 with a 0.88 earned-run average. In two appearances, she struck out 12 and did not walk a batter. She gave up just five hits and only one earned run and opponents batted just .167 off of her.
Other hitter of the week nominees included: Andrea Ortego of Fresno State had the game-winning hit in the bottom of the eighth against Hawaii ... Kristi Hanan of New Mexico State hit with four hits and two RBI ... Brittany McConnell of San Jose State set a WAC record with eight RBI in a game against New Mexico State ... Kelley Kaneshiro of Utah State hit .538 with seven hits for the Aggies in non-conference games against Idaho State and Northern Colorado.
Other pitcher of the week nominees included: Ryane Petersen of Fresno State went 1-0 as the Bulldogs swept Hawaii ... Kim Watson went 1-1 with one shutout and two complete games ... Lindsey Benson went 3-0 with a 2.80 ERA with three complete games for the Aggies.
