Nevada's Lauren Lastrapes and Fresno State's Morgan Melloh have been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for April 12-18. This is the first-ever honor for Lastrapes and the second honor of the season and 10th of her career for Melloh.
Lastrapes, a freshman outfielder from Laguna Nigel, Calif., hit .600 with a double, two home runs (including a grand slam), four runs scored and seven RBI as Nevada won a WAC series at New Mexico State last weekend. She was 6-for-10 at the plate with a 1.300 slugging percentage and .600 on-base percentage. In the first game of the series, Lastrapes belted an RBI double in the second inning, opening the door for a six-run inning that gave Nevada a 6-2 lead as the Wolf Pack went on to an 8-6 win. In game two, she crushed her first career grand slam in Nevada's six-run sixth inning, which proved to be the difference in a 7-2 victory. Though the Pack fell in the final game of the series, Lastrapes hit her second home run is many days as she went 3-for-4 at the plate with two runs and an RBI.
Melloh, a junior from Fishers, Ind., went 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA last week. She pitched a complete-game shutout in the second game of the series at San Jose State to earn the series victory for the Bulldogs. Melloh allowed just three hits and no runs while striking out 11.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees included: Boise State's Christina Capobianco hit .455 with six RBI last week ... Michelle Moses of Fresno State hit .400 with three home runs and six RBI on the week ... Hawai`i's Melissa Gonzalez hit .364 with two homers and six RBI in three games last week ... Tiare Jennings of New Mexico State hit .500 with five hits, including two home runs, and six RBI on the week.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees included: Boise State's Allie Crump went 3-0 with a 2.00 ERA and 15 strikeouts last week ... Stephanie Ricketts of Hawai`i went 2-0 on the week with a 1.11 ERA and 19 strikeouts ... New Mexico State's Alex Newman posted a 0.00 ERA in two relief appearances last week.
