April 28, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
IRVING, Texas - Houston's Jessica Valis is this week's Conference USA Softball Hitter of the Week for the second week in a row after going 8-for-14 (.571) with a double, three RBI and three runs scored last week to help the Cougars clinch their second straight C-USA regular season crown. The junior leadoff hitter registered a .600 on-base percentage and had a stolen base in UH's mid-week game to give her a team-best 16 on the season. Tulsa's Jordan Kinard is the Pitcher of the Week. Kinard finished the week with a 0.57 ERA and notched her fifth shutout of the season and second no-hitter. The freshman tossed an eight-inning no-hitter against Missouri State and tallied 28 strikeouts on the week in 28 innings of work.
HITTER OF THE WEEK (4/28)
JESSICA VALIS - Houston
SS, Jr., Shiner, Texas (St. Paul)
Valis went 8-for-14 in four games last week for a .571 batting average. In the conference series against UAB, she registered two multi-hit games to go along with a double and an RBI. The double was her ninth of the season. The junior leadoff hitter registered a .600 on-base percentage for the week and had a stolen base in UH's mid-week game to give her a team-best 16 on the season. Her stolen base total is tied for the second most in a single season and she holds the top mark with 25 in 2006. Valis is now hitting .542 in conference games and .453 overall to lead the regular season champion Cougars. This is Valis' third career weekly honor, her second consecutive (4/21, 4/28) in 2008.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK (4/28)
JORDAN KINARD - Tulsa
P, Fr., San Spring, Okla. (Mannford)
Kinard finished last week with a 0.75 ERA, including her fifth shutout of the season. The freshman recorded her second no-hitter of the year and the eighth in school history, with an eight-inning no-no in TU's mid-week game against Missouri State. Her efforts helped her take over the team lead in strikeouts with 121 on the season. She became only the fifth TU freshman to record more than 100 strikeouts in a season and currently has the second most Ks for a rookie at TU. The weekly honor is the second for Kinard in 2008 (Feb. 25).
