Two Cougars Earn MWC Weekly Awards Again

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- BYU catcher Jessica Fitu has been named Mountain West Softball Player of the Week, while BYU senior Paige Affleck has been named Pitcher of the Week, for games played from April 25-May 1.

BYU was 3-0 on the week, including 2-0 in conference competition. It is the third weekly honor for Fitu and the sixth of her career, while it is the second time this season Affleck has been honored and the fifth time in her career.

Currently first in the MWC standings with a record of 7-1 and 32-15 overall, this is the 10th and 11th time a BYU player has been honored by the conference this year, the most of any team in the conference and tied for the most by a BYU team in a single year with the 2009 squad.

Fitu, a 5-9 senior from Walnut, Calif., led the Cougars to a 3-0 record last week with a .500 batting average in games against Idaho State, San Diego State and UNLV. Fitu eased into the week, reaching base twice, stealing a base, and registering 12 putouts in a 2-0 win over Idaho State on Tuesday. She came back with two hits, including a double, and two RBI against San Diego State on Thursday. Fitu hit the game-winning double in the bottom of the sixth, driving in the two runs that would prove the difference in a 4-2 win. The win gave BYU the sole lead atop the Mountain West standings and gave BYU the series advantage over SDSU.

The next day against UNLV on Senior Night, the Fitu totaled seven RBI, tied for the second-most in a game in BYU history and the most of any Conference player in any game this season, doing so in a game that lasted just five innings. Fitu earned four of those RBI in one swing, hitting her second grand slam of the season in the fourth inning. The grand slam was also the fifth of Fitu's career, third-most by any player in NCAA history. The grand slam followed an RBI-walk and a run scored by Fitu in the first inning and a two-RBI single in the third. For the game, a 16-0 win, Fitu had seven RBI, two hits, two runs, one walk and six putouts.

Affleck, a 6-1 senior from New Harmony, Utah, went 3-0 on the week in BYU's three games, pitching all but the final inning in a 16-0 win over UNLV. Affleck pitched 18 innings, giving up just one earned run for a 0.39 ERA. She totaled 20 strikeouts while holding opponents to just a .154 batting average.

Affleck pitched a complete-game, seven-inning 2-0 shutout against Idaho State while also combining with Hannah Howell for a shutout against UNLV. Against Idaho State, Affleck struck out 11 batters in the snow to earn the shutout win. Affleck gave up just three hits and only one walk for the game. Pitching a 4-2 complete game two days later against San Diego State, Affleck gave up one earned run with six strikeouts to earn her second win over SDSU this season and put BYU on top of the Mountain West standings. The next day on Senior Night against UNLV, Affleck pitched four shutout innings for her third win of the week, giving up no runs with only one hit and five strikeouts, becoming the first pitcher in the MWC this season with 20 wins.