April 26, 2016
TheMW.com Link: http://www.themw.com/video/ 571f9da1e4b01f5e443d548e
San Jose, Calif. - San José State outfielder Brittany Abacherli and pitcher Katelyn Linford are the Mountain West Conference Player and Pitcher of the Week for games played from April 18 through April 24. The announcement was made by the conference office today.
Abacherli and Linford were integral parts of the Spartans three-game conference sweep at Nevada last weekend. The last time SJSU swept a road series was at Nevada in the 2010 season.
San José State is the only school in the Mountain West to have swept the conference's weekly awards two times this year: pitcher Colette Riggs and infielder Jessie Hufstetler achieved the sweep on April 5.
SJSU athletes have been recognized five times as the Mountain West Player or Pitcher of the Week award this season, the most of any school in the league.
Abacherli, a sophomore centerfielder out of Corona, Calif., hit .500 (6-for-12), scored seven times and drove in three. She had an extra base hit in each game: two doubles and a triple. She slugged .833 and an on base percentage of .500.
In game one of the three-game sweep of Nevada, Abacherli went 3-for-5 (.600) at the plate, drove in a run on an RBI triple and scored three times, including the game winner in the team's 11-1 win.
In game two, she went 1-for-4 with a walk, and scored twice, including the game-winning run in a 12-4 victory.
In the final game of the series, a 12-8 win, Abacherli was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs. In a seven-run fourth inning, she led off with a double, scored the first run and later in the inning hit a sacrifice fly to plate the seventh run. In the sixth inning she drove in the game-winning run and later scored on a three run home run.
This is Abacherli's first Mountain West Player of the Week honor of the year and her career.
In three appearances, two starts and one in relief, she posted a 2-0 record. She was in the circle for 15.1 innings and struck out 10. Linford held opponents to 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position and posted a 2.74 ERA.
Starting the series opener, she pitched a complete game 11-1 victory, scattering four hits and giving up one unearned run. After Nevada got two hits and the unearned run in the first inning, Linford allowed just three base runners, a single, a double and a walk over the final six innings.
Linford entered game two in the fourth inning with nobody out and the bases loaded. She struck out the first two batters she faced and gave up an RBI single, before inducing an inning ending groundout. She would allow just one more hit in the final three innings and earned her second win in as many games.
In the final game of the series, a 12-8 win, Linford started the game and set down the first nine batters she faced. She pitched into the fifth inning before being taken out with a 7-5 lead.
This is Linford's first Mountain West Pitcher of the Week honor of the year and the first of her career.