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MWC Player and Pitcher of the Week
CSU's Farrell and SDSU's Velasquez garner weekly honors
May 4, 2004 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Colorado State junior catcher Kerry Farrell and San Diego State sophomore righthander Celena Velasquez have been named Mountain West Conference Softball Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively. Farrell, an Omaha, Neb., native, helped the Rams to three conference victories last weekend, batting .538 (7-for-13) from the plate and hitting safely in three of four games. In game one of the CSU doubleheader against Utah, she went 4-for-4 with two home runs, a double, four RBI and two runs scored in a 6-2 win. Farrell followed with another home run, a double, three RBI and a run scored as the Rams completed the sweep over the Utes with a 7-5 game two victory. In game two against BYU, Farrell smashed a RBI single in the first inning, which proved to be the difference in Colorado State's 1-0 series ending win. On the week, Farrell had three homers, two doubles, eight RBI and three runs scored, while turning in a 1.385 slugging percentage and a fielding percentage of 1.000 from behind the plate. She is batting .371, with seven home runs, 34 RBI and a .643 slugging percentage this season.
Velasquez, from Tucson, Ariz., continued her dominance as a relief pitcher for the Aztecs, going 2-0 on the week vs. conference foe UNLV. She collected eight strikeouts, while giving up just one earned run and nine hits in 8.1 innings. Velasquez took the mound in the third inning of game one against the Rebels with the scored tied at two and runners on first and third. She forced a first pitch pop-up to end the inning and then went on to strike out four and hold UNLV scoreless the rest of the way as the Aztecs pulled out a 5-2 win. In the fourth inning of game two, Velasquez once again got the call with a runner on second and third, and no outs. She struck out the first batter and got out of the inning with only one of the runners crossing the plate. She kept UNLV in check the rest of the contest, as San Diego State pulled away for a 6-3 win. Velasquez has entered 10 of the past 12 Aztec games in relief and has tallied five wins and five saves with an ERA of 0.24. On the season, Velasquez is 14-4 (5-0 in MWC play), with five saves (tied for 11th in the nation) and an MWC-best ERA of 1.25.
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