FULLERTON, Calif. - The Big West Conference announced the yearly softball awards on Tuesday and Cal State Fullerton collected 10 honors including the Pitcher of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year awards.
Myka Sutherlin was named the Big West Pitcher of the Year. She is the sixth Titan to be named the conference pitcher of the year and the fourth individual recipient (Tiffany Boyd won the award three times) and the first since Desiree Ybarra in 2016. Myka was phenomenal in the circle for the Titans this season and had a 19-9 overall record and a 13-4 record in conference play. Sutherlin was also named to the All-Big West First Team.
Suthlin was named the Big West Pitcher of the Week seven times this season, falling one short of the conference record. She did however set a new conference record by winning the award five weeks in a row after winning 10 games in a row against CSUN, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly, and Hawaii. She tossed the 58th no-hitter in school history and the second no-hitter of her career against CSUN. Myka also picked up wins over Ole Miss, shutout #24 Oregon and Oregon State at the Mary Nutter, closed the win over #8 Tennessee in Mexico and tossed two games with over 8 innings pitched against Michigan and Minnesota.
Sutherlin had a 1.30 ERA in 188.1 innings pitched which was good for 16th in the nation. Sutherlin had 227 strikeouts that was tied for 10th in the nation. Sutherlin had 17 complete games and 9 shutouts. Suthlin had a 0.96 ERA in conference only stats. In her 17 starts in Big West play, she tossed 11 complete games and combined for 6 shutouts. She had 138 punchouts in conference play.
Alexa Neil was named the Big West Defensive Player of the Year. She is just the third Titan to ever receive that honor behind KC Craddick (2011) and Julia Valenzuela (2021). Alexa Neil had a .952 fielding percentage and committed just 9 errors for the season. She had 72 putouts and 105 assists along with 11 double plays. Neil made multiple web-gems throughout the season and committed just one error during Big West Play.
Neil was also named an All-Big West honorable mention. Neil took over the leadoff spot midway through the season and slashed .289/.402/.359 for the season and tied for the team lead with 41 hits. She also had 28 runs, 18 RBIs, and worked 25 walks. Neil slashed .293/.430/.347 in Big West play and was second on the team with 19 runs. She was tied for fifth in Big West stats with 19 runs and tied for the lead with 17 walks.
Hannah Becerra was named to the All-Big West First Team for the second time in her career. She was named to the first team in 2021 and to the second team in 2022. Becerra slashed .256/.425/.519 for the season along with 38 runs, 28 RBIs, and 8 home runs. She also had 13 stolen bases. Becerra led the TItans in Big West stats after slashing .333/.470/.606 and 20 runs, 15 RBIs, and 3 home runs. Becerra was fourth in the conference in OPS at 1.076. Becerra was named the player of the week after the Mary Nutter tournament after batting .294 for the weekend. She hit three home runs that weekend along with 7 RBIS and 5 runs scored. She hit two home runs against a Florida that was ranked No. 3 at the time including a walk-off bomb in extra innings.
Jessi Alcala was named to the All-Big West Second Team and picked up her second career All-Big West honors after being named to the All-Big West First team last season. Alcala slashed .260/.337/.447 for the year with 22 RBIs, 21 runs, and 6 home runs. Alcala was third on the team with 39 hits with 13 of them being extra base hits. Alcala slashed .278/.380/.456 in Big West Play with 14 runs, 9 RBIs, and 3 home runs. Alcala was named the Big West Player of the Week after her series against Cal State Bakersfield. She slashed .750/.833/1.625 and went 6-for-8 with 2 home runs, six RBIs, and 5 runs scored against the Roadrunners.
Haley Rainey was named to the All-Big West Second Team in her first year as a Titan after transferring from Idaho State University. Rainey has made 28 appearances for the Titans and 13 starts. She has a 9-5 record with one save and three complete games. Rainey has a 1.47 ERA in 100.1 innings pitched with 85 strikeouts. Rainey's best starts of the year came against the University of Florida at the Mary Nutter where she held them to 3 runs (1 earned) and struck out 9. She also tossed a complete game shutout against UC Riverside and struck out 9.
Deshea Hill was named to the All-Big West Second Team. Hill was previously named to the All-Big West First Team in 2018 and 2019. Deshea Hill slashed .296/.362/.451 for the season along with 19 RBIS and 2 home runs. Hill was mainly a pinch hitter to start the year before finally regaining her spot in the starting line up during the UC San Diego series. In Big West play, Hill slashed .320/.397/.540 with 15 RBIs. Hill was named the Big West Player of the Week after slashing .857/.800/1.857 for the weekend against the Gauchos. She was 6-for-7 from the plate along with two walks and had 7 RBIs and one home run for the weekend.
Daisy Munoz was an All-Big West Honorable mention and has garnered All-Conference recognition in all four full seasons she played for the Titans. Munoz was named to the Second Team in 2019 and 2022 and to the First Team in 2021. Munoz slashed .288/.355/.349 for the season along with 20 RBIs and 1 HR. She led the team with 42 hits for the season.
Bailey Wallace was an All-Big West Honorable mention and garnered All-Big West recognition for the first time in her career. Wallace batted .228 for the season with 21 hits, 10 RBIs, and 9 runs scored. Wallace batted .258 in Big West play and had her best week of the season in the series against Cal Poly. She batted .444 in that series against the Mustangs and had 5 RBIs for the series. She hit her first career home-run in the Titans 4-2 win over the Mustangs.
The Titans season will continue after being selected by the NCAA for an at-large bid at the Clemson Regional. The Titans will take on Auburn University on Friday, May 19th at 2:30 PM PST.
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