March 27, 2007

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - San Diego State sophomore Melissa Owens (San Diego/Christian HS) has been named the Mountain West Conference Pitcher of the Week after leading SDSU to a 3-1 record last week. The weekly award is her second this season and third of her career. Junior Christina Ross (pitcher) and sophomore Monica Alnes (player) have also been honored this season for the Aztecs.

A right-hander, Owens went 1-0 last week with a 0.44 ERA. She struck out 20 batters and walked four over 16 innings, while limiting her opponents to a .123 batting average.

Owens tossed a three-hit shutout in SDSU's 1-0 win over No. 20 Georgia Tech in the second game of a doubleheader on Wednesday. The three hits, all singles, came against a team who came into the day with a .333 team batting average and 42 home runs. Owens finished the game with eight strikeouts and just one walk.

On Saturday, Owens allowed one hit in four innings of relief in the Aztecs' 5-4 loss to Ohio State. She struck out six and walked one.

Also on Saturday, Owens pitched the first five innings of SDSU's 3-2, eight-inning win over Cal State Fullerton. She struck out six before injuring herself on a headfirst slide that put the Aztecs up, 2-1. Owens was in line for the win until an Aztec error in the bottom of the seventh forced the game to go to extra innings.

Owens ended up pitching nine innings of four-hit ball in the two games combined on Saturday, while striking out 12 and walking three.

In 85 1/3 innings this season, Owens is 8-6 with a 1.80 ERA. She has limited her opponents to a .228 batting average and has struck out 100.

The Aztecs (22-12), winners in nine of their last 10 contests, will play host to Brown in a single game on Wednesday night, beginning at 7 p.m.