Softball earns three top WCC awards with seven All-WCC

SAN BRUNO, Calif. – Three BYU softball players earned the top awards in the West Coast Conference as well as seven being named to All-WCC teams, the conference announced Tuesday.

Lexi Tarrow earned her first WCC Player of the Year award. Arissa Paulson took BYU’s fourth consecutive WCC Pitcher of the Year award while Erin Miklus was awarded WCC Defensive Player of the Year.

After winning six consecutive WCC titles, seven Cougars earned All-WCC honors, including five named to the All-WCC First Team: Marissa Chavez, Rylee Jensen, Autumn Moffat, Arissa Paulson and Lexi Tarrow. On the All-WCC Second Team, Libby Sugg received a selection and Taylei Williams was on the All-WCC Honorable Mention list.

Tarrow is the fifth-straight BYU softball player to receive the WCC’s top honor after Jensen won in 2018, Caitlyn Alldredge took it in 2017, with Ashley Thompson and Gordy Bravo earning it in 2016 and 2015, respectively. Tarrow finished with the top batting average in WCC play at .488. The outfielder had 21 hits, 12 runs, three doubles, two triples, one homer and eight RBI with a .721 slugging percentage.

After redshirting the 2018 season due to an injury, Paulson took BYU’s fifth-consecutive WCC Pitcher of the Year. Last season, Kerisa Viramontes was Co-Pitcher of the Year following McKenna Bull receiving the award for three straight years. The right-handed pitcher finished WCC action with a 7-2 record and a 1.51 ERA. She pitched 55.2 innings with 41 strikeouts, including a career-high of 11 against LMU.

Miklus was BYU’s go-to second baseman during the 2019 campaign. Only a sophomore, Miklus had a perfect fielding percentage during WCC games with 15 putouts, 18 assists and one double play.

All five major awards – along with the All-West Coast Conference Teams – were voted on by the league's six head coaches. A total of 23 student-athletes make up the first and second teams, including eight outfielders by position, eight infielders, four pitchers and three catchers.

2019 West Coast Conference Softball Individual Honors

All-West Coast Conference Softball First Team

All-West Coast Conference Softball Second Team

All-West Coast Conference Honorable Mention
Emma Bickford, Santa Clara; Sofia Earle, Saint Mary’s; Bailey Lotz, Saint Mary’s; Eryn McCoy, Saint Mary’s; Desiree Moreno, LMU; Eleni Spirakis, Santa Clara; Taylei Williams, BYU