SUU's Murphy, Sac State's Matthias Garner #BigSkySB Player of the Week Nods
OGDEN, Utah (April 9, 2018) – Southern Utah senior outfielder Sarah Murphy and Sacramento State senior pitcher Celina Matthias have been named the Big Sky Conference Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, the conference office announced Monday morning.
Murphy extended her hitting streak to eight games in the three-game series versus North Dakota last weekend, batting .625 (5-for-8) with a pair of multiple-hit outings while registering five runs and three RBI. The center fielder from Las Vegas also belted out a pair of home runs along with two doubles.
In the final two games of the series, Murphy went 4-for-5 with four runs and two RBI. She tallied three runs and two RBI in game two of the series on Friday behind a home run and a double in a 2-for-3 performance. She followed up with a 2-for-2 showing while drawing two walks and adding one run in the finale.
Murphy began the week with a home run in the series opener to help the Thunderbirds to a 3-0 shutout of league leader North Dakota.
Murphy is batting .448 in 21 appearances on the season. The weekly honor is the first of her career.
Matthias captured her first Big weekly honor of the season and eighth of her career, factoring into all three wins of Sacramento State’s sweep of Portland State last week. The right-hander went 2-0 with a save and a 0.44 ERA while pitching in all three games of the series. Portland State hit just .115 against Matthias who struck out 19 batters while allowing just six hits and one run in 16.0 innings. In addition, Matthias allowed just one walk over those 16.0 innings and threw complete games in both victories. Of the six hits allowed, only one went for extra bases (a double).
In the Hornets’ 1-0 extra inning victory on Thursday, Matthias tossed a two-hit shutout, walking none and striking out nine batters over eight innings. She threw 111 pitches, faced two batters over the minimum and allowed just one PSU runner past first base the entire game.
She followed up that effort in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, allowing just three hits and one run in a 4-1 win over the Vikings. In seven innings, she walked one and struck out eight batters while throwing just 88 pitches. Matthias did not allow a hit after the third inning, and, at one point during the game, retired nine batters in a row between the third and sixth innings.
In Saturday’s 4-2 nightcap victory, Matthias entered the game as a reliever in the seventh inning with a runner at second and no outs. She proceeded to nail down her third save of the season, allowing one hit with two strikeouts in an inning of work.
Matthias leads the Big Sky with 2.04 ERA in 120 innings of work this season. She has struck out 120 batters while limiting the opposition to a league-best .219 batting average.
Other Player of the Week Nominees: McKinley Brinkerhoff, Weber State; Ashlyn Lyons, Montana; Genesis Zamora, Idaho State; Marina Marzolino, North Dakota
Other Pitcher of the Week Nominees: Kirtlyn Bohling, Weber State; Mariah Mulcahy, Idaho State; Samantha Guile, Southern Utah; Zamari Hinton, Sacramento State
2018 Big Sky Softball Player & Pitcher of the Week
Feb. 13: Player – Taylor Nadler, North Dakota; Pitcher – Valerie Vidal, Northern Colorado
Feb. 20: Player – Delene Colburn, Montana; Pitcher – Valerie Vidal, Northern Colorado
Feb. 27: Player – Angel Love, North Dakota; Pitcher – Kaylin VanDomelen, North Dakota
Mar. 6: Player – MaKenna McGill, Montana; Pitcher – Kaylin VanDomelen, North Dakota
Mar. 13: Player – Nene Alas, Sacramento State; Pitcher – Kaylin VanDomelen, North Dakota
Mar. 19: Player – Suzy Brookshire, Sacramento State; Pitcher – Alyssa Burk, Portland State
Mar. 26: Player – Ashlyn Visser, Weber State; Pitcher – Michaela Hood, Montana
Apr. 2: Player – Kalei Watkins, Southern Utah; Pitcher – Kaylin VanDomelen, North Dakota
Apr. 9: Player – Sarah Murphy, Southern Utah; Pitcher – Celina Matthias, Sacramento State