McLeodUSA Mountain West Conference Player of the Week

Molly McLean, So., OF, Utah
Molly McLean from the University of Utah is this week¹s McLeodUSA Mountain West Conference Softball Player of the Week. This is the second player of the week honor of the season for Utah which becomes the fourth team to sweep the awards. The duo helped the Utes to a 6-0 record during the week. In its home opener, Utah started the week with a doubleheader sweep over in-state rival Utah State (9-1, 8-0) on Wednesday. The Utes then claimed a pair of games at San Diego State (3-1, 12-5) on Friday and won both halves of a twinbill at UNLV (14-6, 14-3) Sunday. The conference leader with a 4-0 record, Utah is now 23-15 overall.

McLean, from Bingham High School in Riverton, Utah, earned the first conference player of the week award of her career and the second of the season for Utah after hitting .609 (14-for-23) with three doubles and four stolen bases during the week. The sophomore outfielder who hits in the second or third slot, scored 10 runs and collected four RBI during the week. Against Utah State, McLean went 3-for-5 with a double, a stolen base and two runs scored in the doubleheader. During the twinbill at San Diego State, McLean went 2-for-4 and 4-for-5 for an impressive .667 average against the Aztecs. She had a double, scored three times and drove in two runs in the series. At UNLV, she notched her third double of the week, stole two bases, scored five times and collected two RBI while hitting 5-for-9 in the doubleheader. McLean leads the Utes with 15 stolen bases this season and improved her batting average to .317 to join a group of five Utes hitting above the .300 mark.

McLeodUSA 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, Feb. 29 ­ Christy Sears (Sr., DH) SDSU, Mar. 8 ­ Kathy Moore (Jr., P/1B) UNM, Mar. 14 ­ Lyndsey Trevis (So., 3B) Utah, Mar. 21 ­ Sarah Maulorica (So., DP) UNM, Apr. 4 ­ Molly McLean (So., OF) Utah.

McLeodUSA Mountain West Conference Pitcher of the Week

Kristin Arbogast, Jr., P, Utah
Kristin Arbogast from the University of Utah is this week¹s McLeodUSA Mountain West Conference Softball Pitcher of the Week. This is the first pitcher of the week honor of the season for Utah.

A product of North Eugene High School in Eugene, Ore., Arbogast claimed her first pitcher of the week recognition after posting a 6-0 record, including three complete games during the week. In her 33 innings of work, the junior struck out 16 of 142 batters faced and walked nine. The starter in all six games, she posted a 1.91 ERA for the week. Against Utah State, she allowed just one run, struck out seven and walked just one in 10 innings over the two games. At San Diego State, Arbogast did not allow an earned run and struck out four in the 3-1 victory in the series opener. The Aztecs reached her for four earned runs in four innings, but Utah cruised to a 12-5 victory in the second game of the day. The Utes scored 14 runs in each game at UNLV, while Arbogast held the Rebels to four earned runs in the twinbill.

McLeodUSA 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, Mar. 8 ­ Kathy Moore (Jr.) UNM, Nicole Truax (So.) UNLV, Mar. 21 ­ Danielle Cassara (Sr.) UNM, Apr. 4 ­ Kristin Arbogast (Jr.) Utah.

Mtn. West Head Coaches:
BYU ­ Mary Kay Amicone
Overall: 9-14 (1st season)
School: 9-14 (1st season)

Colorado State ­ Teri Klement
Overall: 25-43 (2nd season)
School: 25-43 (2nd season)

New Mexico ­ Susan Craig
Overall: 604-526 (24th season)
School: 604-526 (24th season)

San Diego State ­ Kathy Van Wyk
Overall: 97-108 (4th season)
School: 97-108 (4th season)

UNLV ­ Shan McDonald
Overall: 428-365-2 (14th season)
School: 428-365-2 (14th season)

Utah ­ Mona Stevens
Overall: 131-81 (4th season)
School: 131-81 (4th season)

Conference Action Is Underway
The first-ever Mountain West Conference intra-league action took place on Friday, March 31, with four of the conference¹s six teams competing. UNLV and BYU split a doubleheader in Las Vegas while Utah swept a doubleheader at San Diego State. New Mexico swept a twinbill from Colorado State on Saturday, April 1 in their first conference action. SDSU swept BYU and Utah swept UNLV to complete the first weekend of Mtn. West play.

Utah Host of 2000 Mtn. West Softball Championship
The inaugural Mountain West Conference Softball Championship will be hosted by the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. All six Mtn. West softball teams will compete in the double-elimination event for the first league title May 11-13. Seedings will be decided by regular-season results in conference games.

All requests for media credentials for the inaugural Mountain West Conference Softball Championship should be submitted in writing to Director of Communications Elaine Adams at the Mtn. West office or Utah Media Relations contact Julie Lapomarda prior to the event.

Team-by-Team Notes
BYU won its conference opener at UNLV, but split the doubleheader with the Rebels. The Cougars lost both games at San Diego State to finish the week 1-3 in Mtn. West action. Becca Erickson (Jr., SS) took over the team lead in batting average by hitting .417 (5-for-12) during the week to improve to .312. The Cougars play at New Mexico Friday and Colorado State Saturday.

Colorado State lost five straight games during the week ­ three at Nebraska and its first conference doubleheader at New Mexico. Alyson Carter (Sr., 1B/C) provided the bright spot for the week as she belted two home runs at UNM. In the second weekend of conference action, the Rams host Utah Friday and BYU Saturday.

After finishing the non-conference portion of the schedule with a sweep of New Mexico State, New Mexico claimed both games from Colorado State in its Mtn. West opener. Danielle Cassara (Sr., P/1B) hit .636 (7-for-11) with a 1.091 slugging percentage for the week and went 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA in the circle. Melissa Fetman (Fr., OF) blasted a grand slam against Colorado State for the first home run of her career and the second grand slam of the season for the Lobos. Prior to that at-bat, Fetman had just one RBI. The Lobos received 10 votes for No. 33 in last week¹s national poll and lead the league with a team ERA of 2.44 on the season. The Lobos put their six-game win streak on the line as they host BYU Friday and Utah Sunday.

After being swept by Utah in the conference opener, San Diego State claimed both games from BYU to finish 2-2 in the first week of league action. Sandra Durazo (Jr., P) pitched her third shut out of the season in the 4-0 victory over BYU. Tami Simpson (Sr., OF) hit .500 (4-or-8) and helped spark the Aztecs seventh-inning rally in their 5-4 win over BYU. The Aztecs play host to UNLV Saturday then non-conference foe No. 12 Cal State Fullerton Sunday.

UNLV went 1-5 during the week, falling to No. 11 Cal State Fullerton twice on Wednesday, splitting the conference opener with BYU Friday, then being swept by Utah Sunday. The win over BYU snapped a 12-game slide by the Rebels. Nicole Miller hit .642 (9-for-14) in the four conference games and improved to .314 on the season. This week, the Rebels host New Mexico State on Wednesday, then travel to SDSU Saturday and Southern Utah Tuesday.

Utah put together a six-game win streak during the week, sweeping doubleheaders from Utah State, San Diego State and UNLV. The Utes sit atop of the conference standings with a 4-0 slate after the first week of league action. Utah swept the weekly conference honors as Molly McLean (So., OF) hit .609 with 10 runs scored and four RBI during the week and Kristin Arbogast (Jr., P) went 6-0 in the circle. Sunny Smith (Sr., C) tied the Utah single-season record for home runs with her 12th of the season this week and leads five Utes hitting above the .300 mark with a .361 season average. This week the Utes play at Colorado State Friday and New Mexico Sunday, then Utah State Wednesday.