GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— A pair of Colorado Mesa University softball players received accolades on Tuesday morning as sophomore designated player
Alexa Samuels was named as the
Fastpitch News (FPN) NCAA Division II Player of the Week while senior
Kimbri Herring was named as the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week.
The pair helped lead the Mavericks, currently ranked 18
th in the country, to a weekend sweep of the visiting Adams State University on Grizzlies on Saturday and Sunday. The Mavericks (23-6, 16-3 RMAC) won all three games by 9-0 margins in five innings.
Samuels, an Arvada, Colorado native and Ralston Valley High School product, had a career day on Saturday as she went 5-for-6 with seven RBIs in the that doubleheader. She hit two home runs in the game of the series, including mercy-rule implementing walk-off 3-run shot and a 2-run blast in her previous at bat in the third inning. She finished that game with a career-high five RBIs. She then went 3-for-3 with two more RBIs in the second game and finished the weekend with a .625 batting average (5-8) along with a 1.375 slugging and 2.000 OPS.
Meanwhile, Herring posted a pair of 2-hit shutouts during in the series sweep and has now earned a pair of RMAC Pitcher of the Week honors this season (Feb. 12). It is also the third career award for the Stansbury, Utah native, who also tabbed as the RMAC's Preseason Pitcher of the Year and as the 2018 RMAC Tournament MVP.
Herring also struck out 12 Grizzlies in her two starts and allowed just one walk while holding her opponents to a .118 batting average.
She struck out seven of the first 10 Grizzlies she faced in Saturday's start and finished that game with nine strikeouts, needing just 58 total pitches, 44 of which were strikes. She then threw just 68 pitches, 48 of which were strikes in her Sunday start while striking out three more.
Adams State did not have a runner reach third base in either game.
In 2019, Herring is 9-3 with a 2.23 ERA and leads the conference with five individual shutouts.
The Mavericks will take a season-best 8-game winning streak into another home series against Black Hills State (9-12, 6-7 RMAC) this Saturday and Sunday.
