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SDSU's Sears & UNM's Cassara Chosen Mtn. West Softball Player and Pitcher of the Week
Sears bats .833 in three games, while Cassara goes 2-0 during the week. (2/29)
Feb. 29, 2000 Colorado Springs, Colo. San Diego State¹s Christy Sears and New Mexico¹s Danielle Cassara, both seniors, are this week¹s Mountain West Conference Softball Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively. This is the second consecutive player of the week honor for SDSU and the first for Sears, who batted .833 as the Aztecs posted a 2-1 record at the rain-shortened Easton Invitational in Fullerton, Calif. San Diego State is now 6-11 on the season. During the tournament, the native of Upland, Calif., collected three RBI on five hits including a double and triple, and a sacrifice fly in six at-bats during the three games. In the first day of the tournament on Feb. 25, Sears was walked twice and had an RBI-single in the Aztecs¹ 4-3 loss to Purdue. Later that same day, she drove in two runs with a sacrifice fly and single in a 5-0 win over Iowa State. On Saturday, Sears connected in every at-bat, going 3-for-3 with a double and triple in the 3-1 win over Cal Poly. For the week, Cassara struck out 10 batters in 19 innings of work and walked just two. Although she allowed nine earned runs for a 3.32 ERA, she posted a 2-0 record and was the Lobos¹ leading pitcher at the Troy Cox Classic at New Mexico State over the weekend. She helped the Lobos avenge an earlier loss to Penn State, holding the Lions to two runs on eight hits, while striking out six in an eight-inning, 3-2 victory on Feb. 25. The following day, Cassara registered a 5-4 win over No. 21 Illinois-Chicago, as she struck out three and scattered four runs and nine hits without a walk. Later that day, Cassara also pitched the first four innings in the 5-4 loss to New Mexico State, but received no decision in the appearance. A product of Millikan High School in Long Beach, Calif., Cassara is the first Mountain West Conference player to repeat the honor and brings UNM¹s total to three pitcher of the week selections. She claimed the first pitcher of the week of the season on Feb. 8. In addition to her solid pitching performances, Cassara, who plays first base when not in the circle, batted .278 with five hits in 18 at-bats. She set a new school record with her 20th career home run and also collected a double and drove in three runs in the five games. The Lobos also posted a 7-2 win over McNeese State and a 6-1 loss to No. 11 Oregon State to go 3-2 in the tournament and are now 11-7 on the season. Mountain West Conference Softball Players of the Week: Feb. 8 Holly Schmillen (Jr., SS) CSU, Feb. 15 Rachel Goodpaster (Jr., SS) UNLV, Feb. 22 Kellie Nordhagen (So., CF) SDSU, Deb. 29 Christy Sears (Sr., DH) SDSU.
Mountain West Conference Softball Pitchers of the Week: Feb. 8 Danielle Cassara (Sr.) UNM, Feb. 15 Kathy Moore (Jr.) UNM, Feb. 22 Geney Orris (So.) UNLV, Feb. 29 Danielle Cassara (Sr.) UNM.
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