Courtesy of the Pac-12
SAN FRANCISCO – The Pac-12 Conference office announced the softball weekly honors for play from Mar. 30-Apr. 5. UTAH’s Hannah Flippen was voted Player of the Week, while OREGON’s Karissa Hovinga was named Pitcher of the Week and WASHINGTON’s Krystal Aubert was named Freshman of the Week.
Flippen (Bonita, Calif.) had a scorching week offensively as she helped the Utes to a 4-1 record, which included Utah earning its second-straight Pac-12 series victory with two wins over No. 17/16 CALIFORNIA. The sophomore went 10-for-17 with six runs scored and five RBI, including two doubles, a triple and one home run, for a team-high .588 batting average on the week. Her week was highlighted by going 3-for-4 in Utah’s come-from-behind victory over the Bears on Friday, driving in the game-winning runs with a two-RBI single in the bottom of the fifth. Flippen recorded a hit in all five games this week with two or more hits in four of those five games, marking a career-high 14-game hitting streak.
Hovinga (Ralston, Neb.) posted four strikeouts in 5.1 innings of relief to help the Ducks to a comeback win over No. 10 UCLA on the road on Saturday. The senior came on in the second with bases loaded and two outs, retiring the next batter to get UO out of the jam. She allowed just three hits over the next five innings, holding the Bruins scoreless through the rest of the game before Oregon posted a five-run seventh inning to win, 6-4. Hovinga now holds an 8-1 record on the year with the credited win.
Auburt (Orangevale, Calif.) hit .833 in Washington’s three-game sweep against Stanford this weekend, recording a team-leading 10 RBI on 5-for-6 batting with three home runs, one in each game. The freshman had a single and a solo home run in the series opener, which UW won, 11-4, then drove in a grand slam in the second contest the next day in the five-inning 13-2 victory. She closed the series with a two-RBI double and her third home run of the series in another five-inning win for the Huskies by a score of 17-6. The sweep was the first for the Huskies in Pac-12 play this season and tied a season high with the 17 runs scored in the series finale.
It marks the first-career weekly honor for Flippen, Hovinga and Aubert. Utah has five honors all-time, while Oregon now has 56 weekly honors and Washington has 90.
Utah hits the road to play at Oregon State in a three-game series starting Friday, Apr. 10. Oregon will play a doubleheader at Portland State on Tuesday, Apr. 7 before hosting Arizona State in a three-game series beginning Friday, with all three games televised live on Pac-12 Networks. Washington plays its three-game series starting Friday at Arizona, with Saturday and Sunday’s contests on Pac-12 Networks. For more information, including a full schedule, visit www.pac-12.com.
Also Nominated
Player: Chelsea Goodacre, ARIZ; Koral Costa, ORE; Mikela Manewa, OSU; Kayla Bonstrom, STAN; Kylee Perez, UCLA; Krystal Aubert, WASH.
Pitcher: Kylie Sorenson, STAN; Ally Carda, UCLA; Katie Donovan, UTAH.
Freshman: Trish Parks, ARIZ; Kylee Perez, UCLA; Katie Donovan, UTAH.
