Helping their teams to conference series victories, Savannah Horvath and Chelsea Ponce captured the softball weekly awards.
Horvath Leads CSUN To 6-0 Record In Big West Play
Freshman Savannah Horvath (Las Vegas, Nev./Centennial HS) spearheaded CSUN’s series sweep of league foe UC Davis in garnering Big West Softball Field Player of the Week accolades.
The second baseman batted .556 (5-for-9) with a triple, home run and three RBI as the Matadors outscored the Aggies, 12-5, to improve to 6-0 in Big West play. It represents the first time in program history that the Matadors have won their first six Big West games. CSUN opened up 6-0 in league action in 1996 as a member of the Western Athletic Conference.
Horvath reached base safely in all three games. She walked three times in the series opener, then recorded a two-hit afternoon in game two of Friday’s doubleheader.
She saved her best for the final game of the series. Hitting a perfect 3-for-3, Horvath tripled and slammed her eighth home run of the season to lead the Matadors to the 5-0 shutout. She knocked in three run to increase her season total to 32 RBI, which is tied for No. 3 in the Big West.
Horvath is the Big West leader for extra base hits with 11 doubles, two triples and eight home runs.
Others nominated: Courtney Tyler (Cal Poly); Haley Harris (UC Riverside); Kristen Clark (UC Santa Barbara); Rachel Lack (Hawai‘i)
Ponce Claims Third Pitcher Honor
UC Riverside junior Chelsea Ponce (Norwalk, Calif./Cajon HS) posted her third Big West Softball Pitcher of the Week honor as she helped the Highlanders to a series win over defending champion Long Beach State.
The right-hander went 2-1 with a 1.40 ERA in the circle while holding the 49er lineup to a collective .188 batting average. Ponce started and won the opening two games of the series, both by 3-2 scores, and finished the weekend allowing just seven runs (four earned) with 10 strikeouts in 20.0 innings of work.
In the opener, Ponce threw all 10 innings as the Highlanders outlasted the 49ers in a three and a half hour marathon. She scattered just six hits while striking out four.
Ponce went the distance for the second straight time in game two, surrendering five hits and two walks while fanning four. She received the tough luck loss in the finale, pitching three innings of relief and allowing three unearned runs.
UCR won a league series for the first time since topping Cal State Fullerton last year in week three. Ponce now has 134 strikeouts for the year, making her the program’s single-season Division I record holder. She is also the Big West leader in wins (23) and ERA (1.14).
Others nominated: Sierra Hyland (Cal Poly); Brianna Elder (CSUN); Ashley Ludlow (UC Santa Barbara); Kanani Aina Cabrales (Hawai‘i)