Jenavee Peres (player) and Erica Romero (pitcher) capture weekly league honors
Source: goaztecs.com
Photo courtesy goaztecs.com
April 18, 2017 (San Diego) - The San Diego State softball team swept the Mountain West weekly awards, the league announced Tuesday. Jenavee Peres (Garden Grove, Calif.) was named the MW Player of the Week, while Erica Romero (Corona, Calif.) was selected the MW Pitcher of the Week.
The duo helped the Aztecs (23-14, 7-5 MW) sweep a three-game series over New Mexico by a combined score of 22-3, including two run-rule victories. SDSU entered the weekend in a tie for seventh in league play and after the three wins moved into a tie for second.
Peres batted .667 (4-for-6) with three home runs, nine RBIs, six runs, a walk, a hit by pitch, a stolen base and two sacrifice flies, posting a 2.167 slugging percentage, a .600 on-base mark and a perfect fielding percentage in 16 chances behind the plate. Peres had all three of San Diego State’s home runs over the weekend, both sacrifice flies and the only hit by pitch, while also leading the team in RBIs, walks (tied), total bases (13) and slugging percentage. It was the first weekly award for Peres this year and third of her career.
In a 4-1 win on Thursday, Peres was 1-for-1 with a homer, three RBIs, a run, a sac fly and a walk. In a 10-2, five-inning victory on Friday, she had a single, two RBIs, two runs, a sac fly and a stolen base. Peres finished her weekend with a pair of two-run homers, four RBIs, three runs and a hit by pitch in an 8-0, six-inning shutout.
In 36 games (all starts) this year, Peres is batting .405 (49-for-121) with 12 home runs, 41 RBIs, 39 runs, five doubles, two triples, a .777 slugging percentage and a .438 on-base percentage. She is ranked among the top 100 in the country in seven categories, including tied for seventh in sac flies (5), 14th in homers per game (0.33) and RBIs per game (1.14), 17th in runs per game (1.08), 23rd in total bases (94), 28th in slugging percentage and 77th in batting average.
Peres currently holds four career records with the Aztecs in batting average (.387), on-base percentage (.446), OPS percentage (1.156) and sac flies (9, tied), despite missing half of the 2016 season with various injuries. She’s also second in slugging percentage (.710), fourth in home runs (30), fifth in RBIs (112), seventh in extra-base hits (53), and 10th in runs (95) and total bases (255).
Romero, meanwhile, was 2-0 with a 0.64 ERA over 11 innings, limiting a Lobo team that came into the weekend with a .315 overall average (.325 in MW play) to a .238 average on 10 hits (all singles). The right-hander struck out nine against one walk. The award was the first of the season for Romero and sixth of her career.
Romero yielded one run on five hits and a hit batter over five innings, while striking out five, to pick up the win on Thursday. At one point in the game, she retired 10 consecutive batters. On Saturday, Romero tossed six scoreless innings, allowing just five hits (all singles) and a walk, striking out five for her second solo shutout of the season and eighth of her career.
This year Romero is 7-3 with a 2.89 ERA and a save over 80 innings, striking out 46 against 12 walks. Romero has started 14 times and pitched in 23 games, ranking in a tie for 21st in the country in walks allowed per seven innings (1.05). She leads SDSU in ERA, appearances, games started, complete games (2, tied), shutouts (2, tied), innings pitched and strikeouts.
Among the all-time San Diego State leaders, Romero ranks second in appearances (148) and games started (97), third in wins (64), fourth in win percentage (.660), sixth in strikeouts (388), seventh in innings pitched (630.1) and tied for seventh in saves (5).
The Aztecs begin a stretch of three road series in four weeks Friday at Boise State.