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Schmillen and Cassara Earn First Mtn. West Softball Player and Pitcher of the Week
CSU's Schmillen bats .706 in five-game span, while Cassara strikeouts 18 in 19 innings. (2/8)
Feb. 8, 2000 Colorado Springs, Colo. Colorado State junior Holly Schmillen is the first-ever Mountain West Conference Softball Player of the Week and University of New Mexico senior Danielle Cassara is the league¹s first softball pitcher of the week. A native of Ft. Collins, Colo., Schmillen helped the Rams post a 2-3 record and 1.42 ERA in the first week of action. Competing in the Diamond Invitational, hosted by the University of New Mexico, CSU opened the season with a loss to Tulsa (6-4), suffered two identical one-run losses (4-3) to Cal State Fullerton, but claimed two wins (4-2, 2-0) over Texas Tech. Schmillen batted .706 (12-for-17) over the five games with two homeruns and three triples for a 1.412 slugging percentage. She collected six RBI and scored nine runs to account for 13 of the Rams¹ 16 runs. Defensively, the shortstop made 13 put outs and 16 assists without an error. Schmillen opened the season with a 3-for-4 outing which included a triple, an RBI and two runs scored vs. Tulsa and went 3-for-3 with a home run, one RBI and three runs scored vs. Texas Tech on Feb. 4. The following day, she went 2-for-4 with a triple, one RBI and one run scored vs. Fullerton, then accounted for the only runs in CSU¹s 2-0 win over Texas Tech by scoring on an error following an RBI-triple and went 2-for-3 in the game. Her second home run of the tournament came on Feb. 6 in a 2-for-3 performance against Cal State Fullerton, in which she scored all three of the Rams runs. A product of Millikan High in Long Beach, Calif., Cassara posted a 2-1 record in three starts for the Lobos. New Mexico opened the season with a 3-3 record in its own Diamond Invitational. The Lobos sweept Tulsa (8-2, 10-2) in a double header on Feb. 4, lost both games of a twinbill (9-5, 3-2) to Cal State Fullerton on Feb. 5, and split games (3-0, 1-7) with Texas Tech on Feb. 6. Cassara struck out 18 batters in 19 innings of work and walked just two. She held opponents to a .205 batting average, allowing just three earned and five total runs. She notched her first shutout of the season against Texas Tech, throwing a one-hitter and striking out eight in seven innings. In addition to her strong pitching performances, Cassara, who plays first base when not in the circle, led the Lobos in hitting. She collected 13 RBI while batting .476 (10-for-21) with a .952 slugging and .542 on-base percentage in six games. Mountain West Conference Softball Players of the Week: Feb. 8 Holly Schmillen (Jr., SS) CSU.
Mountain West Conference Softball Pitchers of the Week: Feb. 8 Danielle Cassara (Sr.) UNM.
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