Photo Courtesy of Big Sky
OGDEN, Utah (April 21, 2014) – Idaho State shortstop Hailey Breakwell was named the Big Sky softball Player of the Week, and Sacramento State’s Caitlin Brooks was named the Big Sky softball Pitcher of the Week for games played from April 14 – 20.
Hailey Breakwell, a junior from Napa, Calif., was 8-for-12 with three home runs and seven RBIs in a 4-0 week for Idaho State. She also had a 1.417 slugging percentage.
Breakwell was 2-for-4 with two RBIs in an 8-7 win over Utah Valley Tuesday.
In game one of Saturday’s doubleheader, Breakwell was 3-for-3 with three RBIs including a solo home run. She also scored two runs. The Bengals won 12-0 in five innings.
In game two, she was 1-for-2 with an RBI, she was also walked twice to help the Bengals win 9-8.
Saturday, she hit a home run in the fourth inning, just over the outstretched glove of the left fielder to score the first run of the game for ISU.
She singled in the sixth inning before Terah Blackwell homered her in to give ISU the lead. The Bengals won 6-4.
Defensively she was stellar with 10 putouts and 10 assists with no errors for the four games.
Caitlin Brooks, a junior from Escalon, Calif., helped lead Sacramento State to a three-game sweep of Portland State after picking up two of the Hornets’ victories during the series. The right-hander went 2-0 with a 1.00 ERA, allowing just six hits, two earned runs and two walks while striking out 22 batters in 14.0 innings of work. Portland State hit just .122 against Brooks, and she averaged 11 strikeouts per appearance.
On Friday, she carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning before giving up a one-out single, and on Saturday, she took a perfect game into the fifth inning before allowing a one-out single.
In Friday’s 5-2 victory, the Escalon, Calif., native allowed just two hits and two unearned runs while walking one and striking out a career-high 13 batters. She retired the first 11 batters of the game before issuing a two-out walk in the fourth inning. Of those 11 batters, eight were retired on strikeouts. The 13 strikeouts surpassed her previous high of 12, set last season against Idaho State. She struck out at least one batter in every inning, and needed just 94 pitches to earn the victory.
In Saturday’s 3-2 win, Brooks allowed just four hits and two runs over seven innings while walking one and striking out nine batters. She threw 104 pitches, and retired the first 13 batters of the game before allowing a clean single to left field from Crysta Conn. Brooks had at least one strikeout in every inning but the sixth.
She is now 8-5 this season with a conference-best 1.46 ERA. Opponents are hitting just .213 when she is in circle and has 89 strikeouts compared to just 31 walks. Against Big Sky opposition, she is 4-1 with a 1.70 ERA
Others Nominated:
Player: Kim Granata – North Dakota; Morgan Yuhas – Northern Colorado; Brittany Hendrickson – Portland State; Kortney Solis – Sacramento State; Kylee Wolf – Southern Utah
Pitcher: Haley Douglas – Idaho State; Megan Wilkinson – Northern Colorado; Ariel Hart – Southern Utah