March 4, 2008

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - San Diego State's Erin Floros (San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel HS) and Christina Ross (Santa Clarita, Calif./Univ. of Kansas) have been named the Mountain West Conference Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, Commissioner Craig Thompson announced Tuesday. It is the second career award for Floros and the sixth career and third straight honor for Ross.

It is the second consecutive week the Aztecs swept the league's weekly awards after sophomore Brittany Knudsen (San Diego, Calif./Escondido HS) and Ross won the respective awards last Tuesday.

The weekly accolades come after SDSU went 5-1 last week with its only loss to No. 4/7 UCLA, 2-1, in nine innings. San Diego State also picked up wins against Saint Peter's (11-0, 6 innings), a pair versus 2007 NCAA tournament team Eastern Michigan (3-0 and 4-3), and victories against 2007 tourney squads Harvard (10-1, 5 innings) and Oregon (3-2).

A junior, Floros batted .353 with a team-high 10 RBI over the weekend. She started all six games and recorded a .450 on-base percentage. Floros recorded the game-winning singles in back-to-back games against Eastern Michigan (Saturday) and Oregon (Sunday), and scored the game-winning run versus Harvard on Friday.

A freshman All-American in 2006, Floros went 2-for-3 with a homer and two RBI in SDSU's 3-0 win over Eastern Michigan on Thursday.

She followed that up with a two RBI performance against Saint Peter's College and one against Harvard on Friday.

On Saturday, Floros was 2-for-3 and drove in three of the Aztecs' four runs in their 4-3 come-from-behind win over Eastern Michigan.

She ended the weekend with a two-run single in the third in what proved to be the game-winner against Oregon on Sunday.

She excelled in the field as well, posting a perfect fielding percentage in a team-high 33 chances despite logging starts at both first base and catcher, after beginning the year as the starting third baseman.

Floros, the 2006 MWC Freshman of the Year, is batting .302 this season and leads the team with two home runs and 20 RBI in 21 games. With at least 30 games still to go, Floros is well on pace to break Kelcy Murphy's school-record 41 RBI during the 2002 season.

Ross, who was named the league's Pitcher of the Week the previous two weeks as well, posted a 3-1 record with a 0.89 ERA over the weekend despite battling the flu. She allowed 17 hits over 23 2/3 innings for a .205 opponent's batting average. Ross also had 16 strikeouts against two walks for an impressive 8-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Ross tossed six scoreless innings in SDSU's 3-0 win over Eastern Michigan on Thursday, while striking out five without a walk with just four hits.

On Saturday, Ross held No. 4/7 UCLA to just five hits and one walk in nine innings of work. She struck out six and limited the Bruins to a .167 team batting average with just one extra-base hit. This stat is remarkable considering UCLA came into the game with a .362 average with 14 home runs and 126 runs in 19 games.

In the nightcap on Saturday, Ross pitched 1 2/3 innings of perfect relief to pick up the win in SDSU's come-from-behind 4-3 win over Eastern Michigan.

Ross picked up her third win of the weekend on Sunday against Oregon, when she scattered two runs on eight hits and a walk in the 3-2 triumph. She added five strikeouts.

On the season, Ross ranks first in the league in ERA (0.64) and wins (10), and second in innings pitched (87.2) and appearances (16). She also has 78 strikeouts against 13 walks for a 6-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

SDSU, off to its best start in school history at 16-5, takes on Loyola-Chicago at 7 p.m. Wednesday before traveling to Tempe, Ariz., for the Arizona State Tournament. Highlighting the tournament will be the host Sun Devils, who are 21-1 and ranked No. 1 in both the ESPN.com/USA Softball and USA Today/NFCA polls.