Sophomore pitcher Kenzie Fowler was named USA Softball Player of the Week and the Pacific 10 Conference Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday.

Fowler threw two complete-game shutouts over the weekend against Stanford. She didn’t give up a single run in 15.1 innings and held the Cardinal to a combined .085 batting average.

“”I’m honored to be named the USA Softball Player of the Week,”” Fowler said in a press release. “”Our team had a great weekend and I was happy to be part of that success.””

Fowler, who registered her 20th win over the weekend, is finally finding consistent success after adjusting her pitching motion for the second time this season. She is currently second in the Pac-10 with 161 strikeouts.

This is the second time Fowler has been given the national player of the week award in her career, and the first time an Arizona Wildcat player has received the award this season.

Fowler’s Pac-10 pitching award is the third of her career, and the 134th time Arizona has won the award. That figure leads the Pac-10.

“”That’s very nice. That’s a great accomplishment and a great honor,”” said head coach Mike Candrea. “”She had a good weekend and looked like her old self.””

A Pac-10 first

For freshman short stop Alex Lavine, there were no nerves going into her first Pac-10 game. It was all about anticipation.

“”It was really exciting,”” Lavine said. “”That’s the best we’ve played all season and it was really great.””

The freshman had a home run in the Wildcat’s 6-1 win over the Cardinal on Saturday. It was her third of the year.

Lavine, along with freshman pitcher Shelby Babcock, is making an impact on Candrea’s starting line up. Babcock started the second game of the series with the Cardinal, threw 3.1 innings and gave up the only run charged to Arizona over the weekend.  

“”I felt like everyone was in the game and doing the things that we needed to,”” Candrea said. “”It was probably the best series that we’ve played to date.””