April 1, 2008

McNeese State's senior catcher/designated player Jenny Clay and Virigina Tech's senior pitcher Angela Tincher have been named Co-Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I Players of the Week for the week ending March 30.

Clay hit .824 for the week, going 14-for-17 with six doubles, one triple and three home runs. She also had nine RBI and scored seven runs. Clay's offensive performance helped the Cowgirls to a 5-1 record on the week and picked up two Southland Conference series victories with wins over Sam Houston State and Texas A&M Corpus Christi.

In the Cowgirls final game of the series against Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Clay missed hitting for the cycle by a home run. Her week included four games where she was perfect at the plate and she also had a streak three straight games with a home run.

The national honor is the first ever for the McNeese State Softball program and second in the Southland Conference. Former member Sarah Dawson of Louisiana-Monroe earned the honor in 1997.

Tincher was tabbed as Co-Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Player of the Week based on her exceptional performance last Wednesday against the USA Softball Women's National Team, when she no-hit Team USA and was just one walk away from a perfect game.

Although competition against non-NCAA schools is not generally taken into consideration, the unique circumstances of Tincher's performance in this game deserves consideration. Tincher's no-hitter, a 1-0 win for Virginia Tech, was the first pre-Olympic tour loss for Team USA since May 3, 1996, when the U.S. lost to California Select in Los Angeles, Calif. The Hokies victory broke a 185-game pre-Olympic tour win streak for Team USA.

Against collegiate competition over the weekend, Tincher got the win in Virginia Tech's 8-1 win at Maryland on Saturday and in the Hokies 8-3 Sunday victory, a game in which she recorded 18 strikeouts. She pitched the last five outs of Virginia Tech's Saturday loss to the Terps, striking out three and allowing one hit in scoreless relief.