FULLERTON, Calif. – After helping the Cal State Fullerton softball team to a pair of wins last week over No. 23/25 Fresno State and CSU Bakersfield, Desiree Ybarra and Alexis Gonzalez were named Big West Conference Pitcher and Player of the Week, respectively, it was announced by the league office on Monday.
Gonzalez knocked in seven runs and belted two homers in a pair of non-conference victories as she claimed her first Big West Conference athlete of the week honor.
The junior catcher got things going for the Titans in their 5-0 shutout of nationally-ranked Fresno State on Tuesday as she slammed a three-run home run in the first to give the Titans all the run support they would need. She finished the game batting 2-for-4 with four RBIs.
She came back the following day at CSU Bakersfield and launched her team-leading fifth long ball of the year to help Cal State Fullerton to an 8-2 win on Wednesday. Gonzalez finished the game against the Road Runners batting 1-for-3 with a homer, a run scored and three RBIs.
After logging a pair of roundtrippers in as many days, Gonzalez finished the week batting .429 with a 1.286 slugging percentage as the Titans extended their winning streak to five.
In the circle, senior southpaw Ybarra blanked No. 23/25 Fresno State in her only outing of the week en route to collecting her second Big West Conference Pitcher of the Week honor in the last three weeks.
Ybarra went the distance in the game as she scattered four hits over 7.0 innings of work and stuck out a career-high 11 batters without allowing a walk.
The Riverside, Calif., native effectively mowed down the Bulldogs' lineup as she retired the first six batters she faced, including striking out the side in the second inning.
With the shutout victory, Ybarra has now tossed 15.1 scoreless innings and has not allowed an earned run in 36.0 innings of action dating back to March 6.
Cal State Fullerton returns to action Tuesday, March 29 when it welcomes No. 14/16 UCLA to Anderson Family Field for a 6 p.m., non-conference contest.