Freshman third baseman Katiyana Mauga of ninth-ranked Arizona has been selected as the Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I National Player of the Week for games played over March 31-April 6.

Mauga was truly on fire at the plate for the Wildcats during their three-game series sweep of then-No. 24 Stanford, batting .625 (5-for-8) with six runs scored, four walks, four HR’s and an impressive 11 RBIs while slugging 2.125.

The San Diego, Calif., native got her weekend started by going 2-for-2 with three walks, three runs scored, a pair of HR’s and six RBIs during the wild, series-opening 18-12 win.

On Saturday Mauga went 2-for-2 with a pair of tallies, a HR and three RBIs as UA prevailed 12-3 (5 inn.). She wrapped up her efforts with a 1-for-4 Sunday performance that included a clutch, walk-off two-run HR in a 5-3 (8 inn.) triumph. For the season she is hitting .369 overall with 26 runs scored, 20 extra-base hits, including 13 HR’s, and 40 RBIs while slugging at a team-best .929 clip.

“I want to thank the NFCA for the recognition, I am incredibly honored,” Mauga said. “I am proud of the way my team competed this weekend against Stanford, and I am happy I was able to help us pick up the sweep in front of our amazing home crowd.”

“I am very excited for Katiyana to receive recognition as NFCA National Player of the Week,” Arizona head coach Mike Candrea said. “Kati has made an immediate impact as a freshman, and her honor is well deserved. Hopefully, this is just the beginning of a great career at The University of Arizona.”

No. 9 Arizona (32-8, 7-5 Pac-12) returns to league action over April 11-13 by traveling to Berkeley, Calif., to face-off against the Golden Bears in a three-game set.

 

Selected Top Performances


Oregon’s Kailee Cuico batted .462 (6-for-13) with three HR’s and 12 RBIs over four games against UCSB and No. 1 UCLA to reap Pac-12 Conference Player of the Week…Louisville’s Maryssa Becker was named the American Athletic Conference’s Pitcher of the Week after earning two of her team’s wins via complete game efforts, and totaling a 0.78 ERA for the week with 17 K’s, during a road sweep of USF…Oklahoma’s Kelsey Stevens was 4-0 from the circle with a 0.67 ERA, three shutouts and 21 strikeouts over 21 innings of work against Oklahoma State and Kansas…ACC Pitcher of the Week, Lacey Waldrop of Florida State, registered a 4-0 mark with a 1.54 ERA and 21 strikeouts over 22.2 innings while also picking up a victory over No. 6 Florida…LSU’s Allison Falcon, the SEC Player of the Week, batted .750 (6-for-8) with five of those six hits coming as the Bayou Bengals took a series from No. 2 Tennessee…Nicole Pagano of Mount St. Mary’s earned Northeast Conference Pitcher of the Week accolades after going 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA, a no-hitter against Sacred Heart and 23 K’s over 21 frames…Texas’ Taylor Thom hit at a .727 clip (8-for-11) with seven runs scored, three HR’s, including her fifth career grand slam, and nine RBIs over four games against Texas State and Texas Tech…Alabama’s Leona Lafaele batted .545 (6-for-11) with two HR’s and nine RBIs over four total match-ups against No. 11 South Alabama and Arkansas…The OVC Player of the Week, Murray State’s Taylor Odom, batted .625 with four extra-base hits and six RBIs while slugging at a 1.500 clip over five games…Fresno State’s Brooke Ortiz hit .667 (8-for-12) with two doubles, a triple and a .692 on-base percentage…IUPUI’s Ali Mosier, the Summit League Player of the Week, batted .474 with four extra-base hits, including three two-baggers, six runs scored, three stolen bases and eight RBIs…Missouri’s Tori Finucane earned SEC Pitcher of the Week honors after going 2-0 with a pair of complete games, a 0.50 ERA and 16 strikeouts against SEC foe Mississippi State…Rutgers’ Jackie Bates hit .579 (11-for-19) with five doubles, a HR and six RBIs in being tabbed to the American Athletic Conference Honor Roll…DePaul’s Kirsten Verdun was 3-0 wit a 1.75 ERA, including a win over No. 25 Notre Dame and a no-hitter against Seton Hall…Utah Valley’s Debra Lovell went 7-for-13 (.538) with a double, three HR’s and seven RBIs over four games to reap Western Athletic Conference Hitter of the Week…Atlantic-10 Conference Co-Rookie of the Week Jillian Galich of George Washington batted .583 (7-for-12) with four doubles and nine RBIs to power her team to a 3-1 week…Jackie Reed of St. John’s, the BIG EAST Player of the Week, hit at a .579 clip (11-for-19) with  three extra-base hits (two HR’s) and a .947 slugging percentage over six league contests.

 

2014 Louisville Slugger Division I National Player of the Week

Feb. 11 – Griffin Joiner – Kentucky – Jr. – C – Hopkinsville, Ky.

Feb. 18 – Bryana Walker – Washington – Sr. – P – La Quinta, Calif.

Feb. 25 – Anna Miller (Co-) – USC Upstate – Sr. – P – Portland, Ore.

Ally Carda (Co-) – UCLA – Jr. – P/UTIL – Elk Grove, Calif.

March 4 – Lacey Waldrop – Florida State – Jr. – P – Chester, Va.

March 11 – Dallas Escobedo – Arizona State – Sr. – P – Glendale, Ariz.

March 18 – Sydney O’Hara – Syracuse – Fr. – P/OF/1B – Cicero, N.Y.

March 25 – Jaclyn Traina (Co-) – Alabama – Sr. – P/UTIL – Naples, Fla.

Sammy Marshall (Co-) – Western Illinois – Jr. – SS/OF – Naperville, Ill.

April 1 – Cheridan Hawkins – Oregon – So. – P – Anderson, Calif.

April 8 – Katiyana Mauga – Arizona – Fr. – 3B – San Diego, Calif.