MWC Honors Purcell for Third Time

COLORADO SPRINGS -- BYU sophomore catcher Jessica Purcell and San Diego State sophomore righthander Samantha Beasley have been named Mountain West Conference Softball Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively.

Purcell, who hails from Walnut, Calif., hit two three-run homers in back-to-back games last week to help BYU extend its winning streak to 13 games.

In Tuesday's contest against Southern Utah, the sophomore earned seven RBI to score all but one of the Cougars' runs to tie a career best set earlier in the season.

Purcell went 4-for-4 on Friday vs. UNLV, including a three-run homer that marked her third-straight game with a roundtripper that scored three. She grabbed hits in all of her plate appearances to increase her hitting streak to 10 games.

In game two against the Rebels, Purcell was walked twice, including an intentional walk in her final plate appearance with one runner on base. Purcell finished the week 6-for-8, to increase her league-leading batting average to .414. She also tops the conference with 66 RBI on the year.

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BYU Weekly Conference Honors 2009 
Jessica Purcell     Player of the Week   March 2-8
Monica Gonzales     Player of the Week   March 16-21
Paige Affleck       Pitcher of the Week  March 16-21
Christie Zinanti    Pitcher of the Week  March 23-28
Andrea Ramirez      Player of the Week   March 23-28
Angeline Quiocho    Player of the Week   April 6-11
Jessica Purcell     Player of the Week   April 6-11
Jessica Purcell     Player of the Week   April 13-18