Photo Courtesy of PAC-12 Conference
TEMPE – Arizona State University softball senior pitcher Dallas Escobedo has been named the Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week for the third time this season, as announced by the league office on Monday afternoon.
Escobedo recorded 23 strikeouts in 12.0 total innings over the course of two games, both of which were victories for the senior as she helped the Sun Devils sweep Cal on the road for the team’s first road Pac-12 sweep in over a year and just the fourth sweep of Cal all-time since 1988.
She gave up just six hits and four walks, allowing only two earned runs for a 1.17 earned run average. Escobedo struck out 13 in a 7-2 victory in the opener of the series before adding 10 more on Sunday to complete the sweep, giving her double-digit strikeouts in four consecutive games.
Escobedo has now struck out 228 batters this season, a total that leads the nation. She has double-digit strikeouts in each of her last four games and now has 1,114 for her career, which moved her into the top-60 on the all-time NCAA career list.
Her 10-0 shutout in the series finale was her ninth of the season, which is second in the Pac-12 behind Oregon’s Cheridan Hawkins’ 10.
Escobedo has now received Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week honors eight times over the course of her career, tied for the second-most honors for an Arizona State player all-time with former Sun Devil Kirsten Voak, who also has eight, and behind Katie Burkhart who has nine. It is the 82nd selection for Arizona State all-time.
It was the third time this season Escobedo had received the honor, tying her with Hawkins at the top of the Pac-12 pecking order. The award also capped off a spectacular link for Escobedo in which she was selected as the No. 1 pick in the National Pro Fastpitch draft as well as being named a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award.
The Sun Devils (35-6, 8-3 Pac-12) and Escobedo return home this weekend for a three-game series against Utah beginning Thursday, April 10 at 7 p.m. PT/MT.
EUGENE, Ore. – After helping the Ducks to a 5-1 record last week, including a series win over No. 1 ranked UCLA, Kailee Cuico was named Pac-12 Player of the Week, the league announced Monday.
This is Cuico’s second career player of the week honor, after claiming it once last season. It is also Oregon’s 47th time taking home the award and the third straight week one of the Ducks has won player or pitcher of the week (Alexa Peterson and Cheridan Hawkins).
Cuico homered three times and posted 12 RBIs as the Ducks took both games of a mid-week doubleheader with UC Santa Barbara and won two of three in a series with top-ranked UCLA.
She went 6-of-13 over the course of five games for a .462 batting average, along with a 1.154 slugging percentage and a .533 on-base percentage.
Her seven RBIs in the second game of the UCLA series, when she hit a three-run shot and a grand slam, tied the UO single-game record.
Cuico now has 161 career RBIs, making her Oregon’s career runs batted in leader, breaking the previous record of 155.
Oregon visits rival Oregon State this weekend in a three-game series starting at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
