March 17, 2009

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - San Diego State's Brittany Knudsen (San Diego, Calif./Escondido HS) and Samantha Beasley (San Diego, Calif./Steele Canyon HS) have each been honored by the Mountain West Conference, the league announced Wednesday. Knudsen earned her second career MWC Player of the Week award, while Beasley garnered her second career pitcher of the week honor. It is the fourth consecutive week an Aztec has won one of these two awards.

The duo led SDSU to a 6-1 record last week, where it outscored its opponents, 36-10. The Aztecs (18-12) have won seven of its last eight games, nine of its last 11 and 13 of its last 17 games.

A junior, Knudsen led San Diego State with a .409 average. She was 9-for-22 with a team-high eight RBI, despite batting in the leadoff spot each game. Knudsen also led SDSU over the week in walks (4), sacrifice flies (1) and on-base percentage (.481), and was perfect in three fielding chances.

Knudsen started off her good week Wednesday with a two-hit, one-RBI, one-run performance in SDSU's 7-0 victory over South Dakota State. On Thursday night, Knudsen went 2-for-3 with a career-high three RBI in San Diego State's 9-0 win over Miami (OH) in seven innings. The next game on Friday, Knudsen drove in the game-winning run with a triple in the fifth inning in the Aztecs' 1-0 win over Oklahoma State. Against Northern Colorado later in the night, Knudsen went 1-for-2 with a run, an RBI, a walk and a stolen base in a 5-3 SDSU triumph. After singling in an 8-1 win over New Mexico State, which was receiving votes in the latest ESPN.com/USA Softball poll, on Saturday, Knudsen came through with two hits and two RBI in San Diego State's thrilling 4-3, 10-inning win over Iowa State on Saturday night. On Sunday, Knudsen walked twice in SDSU's 3-2 loss to Cal State Northridge.

On the season, Knudsen leads the team in batting average (.286), hits (24), doubles (6), walks (16), on-base percentage (.402), sacrifice hits (4) and stolen bases (9).

Beasley, a sophomore, went 4-1 over the week with a 0.70 ERA. Appearing in six games with four starts, Beasley struck out 37 over 30 innings, while allowing just nine walks (four coming in one appearance). She tossed three complete games, picked up one save, and held her opponents to a .146 batting average with only one of the 15 hits being for extra-bases (a double).

On Wednesday night, Beasley struck out a career-high 12 batters in a complete game two-hit shutout in SDSU's 7-0 win over South Dakota State. Beasley then struck out 10 with another complete game two-hit shutout in the Aztecs' 1-0 victory over Oklahoma State on Friday. Against Northern Colorado later on in the night, Beasley struck out the only batter she faced for her third save of the season in a 5-3 win by San Diego State over Northern Colorado. On Saturday, Beasley struck out nine in a complete game win 8-1 win over New Mexico State. Beasley allowed just four hits and one run to an Aggie team that came into the weekend with a .371 team batting average and receiving votes in the latest ESPN.com/USA Softball poll. In the next game later in the night against Iowa State, Beasley came into a bases loaded jam with no outs in the ninth inning. After giving up a single to bring home one run as the bases remained full, Beasley then proceeded to get a strikeout, popout to first and a flyout to center to end the threat without further damage. Beasley held the Cyclones scoreless in the 10th during the international tiebreaker to help SDSU to a 4-3 win in 10 innings. Beasley's only setback came against Cal State Northridge on Sunday, when she allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits and two walks over 6 2/3 innings.

In 2009, Beasley is 9-8 with a 2.25 ERA over 112.0 innings. She has recorded 130 strikeouts and has limited her opponents to a .197 batting average.

The Aztecs continue their season-long 10-game homestand with a doubleheader against Texas Tech tonight (Tuesday), beginning at 5 p.m.