“Richelle has pitched well for us all season,” said head coach Dan Powers. “This is a great honor for Richelle and our program, and is hopefully the first of many to come for Seattle U softball.”
Ashburn went 2-0 with a 0.58 ERA and seven strikeouts over the weekend as the Redhawks swept the series vs. Utah State. She pitched two complete games, allowing just one earned run in 12 innings of work. Ashburn recorded her fourth shutout of the year in game three and has now thrown 11 complete games this season. This was the team’s first ever WAC series win and series sweep.
Other nominees for Pitcher of the Week, named by the conference office, include Alex Newman (New Mexico State), Amanda Pridmore (San Jose State), Teri Lyles (UT Arlington), and Ashley Wright (Texas State).
The conference office also names a Hitter of the Week, as New Mexico State’s Staci Rodriguez was named this week. Amanda Krueger (Louisiana Tech), Markesha Collins (San Jose State), Britnea Barilli (UT Arlington), Kelli Baker (Texas State), and Isabella Geronimo (Seattle U) were also nominated.
The Redhawks (17-23, 6-6 WAC) moved up in the league standings after the weekend, now tied for third place with Texas State and Louisiana Tech. They will face UTSA for a three-game conference series in San Antonio on Apr. 19-20 (single game at 4 p.m. PT on Apr. 19; doubleheader at 2 p.m. PT on Apr. 20) before returning home for a mid-week doubleheader vs. Portland State on Apr. 24 at 2 p.m. (rescheduled from Apr. 10).