May 14, 2013
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Fresh off winning its second straight Mountain West title and sixth overall, the San Diego State softball team swept the postseason individual awards, the league announced today. It is the first time in MW history that a team has won all four awards (pitcher of the year was not given out in 2000 when Utah won the other three awards).
Junior Patrice Jackson (Kansas City, Mo.) was named the MW Player of the Year, senior Rebecca Arbino (Clovis, Calif.) was chosen as the MW Pitcher of the Year, Danielle O'Toole (Upland, Calif.) was picked as the MW Freshman of the Year and Kathy Van Wyk was selected as the MW Coach of the Year. Additionally, junior Lorena Bauer (San Diego/Steele Canyon HS) joined Jackson, Arbino and O'Toole on the all-conference team.
Jackson became the second Aztec to garner player-of-the-year accolades, joining Hayley Miles, who was the co-player of the year in 2012. In MW games, Jackson led the league in slugging percentage (1.042), runs (19), home runs (9) and total bases (50), while tying for first with 19 RBIs. She also ranked fifth in on-base percentage (.508) and ninth in batting average (.396), and made just one error in 18 chances in right field and center field. It was her second all-conference selection (also 2012).
Overall, Jackson is batting .368 with a team-high 16 homers. She is ranked second on the team in batting average, runs (35), RBIs (41), total bases (114), slugging percentage (.750) and on-base percentage (.459).
Arbino, meanwhile, became SDSU's eighth pitcher-of-the-year in the league's 14-year history after going 8-4 in conference games with a 2.02 ERA over 76 1/3 innings. The right-hander led the MW in wins, appearances (15, tied) and strikeouts (73), and was second in ERA, opponent batting average (.235) and innings pitched. She also had seven complete games in 10 starts, a save and was a part of four San Diego State shutouts.
Overall, Arbino is 20-12 with a 1.96 ERA in 207 1/3 innings. She has 196 strikeouts and has limited the opposition to a .235 average.
O'Toole became the seventh Aztec to be named the MW Freshman of the Year, the third straight (also Miles in 2011 and Kayla Jordan in 2012) and fourth in five years (Bailey Micetich in 2009). O'Toole went 5-1 in conference action with a league-low 1.49 ERA. She also was third in opponent batting average (.246), eighth in strikeouts (31) and 10th in innings pitched (47.0). The left-hander played a part in three of team's four shutouts in conference play.
On the season, O'Toole is 14-6 with a team-best 1.71 ERA over 143 innings. Her ERA ranks 40th in the country and fifth among freshmen. Her opponents are hitting just .246 off her.
Van Wyk, the all-time winningest coach in program history who has led SDSU to all nine of its NCAA tournament appearances and all six MW titles, was named the coach of the year for the fourth time (also 2002, 2006 and 2008). Van Wyk helped San Diego State win its final five games en route to winning the league title and automatic bid into the NCAA tournament with a 13-5 record.
For her career, Van Wyk is 576-392-1 (.594) and 157-86 (.646) in Mountain West games. She has coached four All-Americans, 59 all-conference selections, eight MW pitchers of the year, seven MW freshmen of the year, two MW players of the year and 106 conference player/pitcher of the week winners. Van Wyk became the 10th MW Coach-of-the-Year from San Diego State during the 2012-13 year.
Bauer became an all-conference selection for the first time in her illustrious career. In MW games, Bauer, who owns four career program records, led the league in batting average (.469), and was second in slugging percentage (.878) and on-base percentage (.536), and third in doubles (5, tied), home runs (5) and total bases (43).
Overall, Bauer ranks 36th in the country in batting average (.421), and also leads the Aztecs in hits (67), doubles (18), RBIs (49), total bases (128), slugging percentage (.805) and on-base percentage (.477).
SDSU (35-18) plays rv/No. 21 Georgia (38-19) at 12:30 p.m. PT Friday in Tempe, Ariz. The No. 5 overall seed and No. 4/4 Arizona State (45-10) and San Jose State (42-15) will follow at 3 p.m. PT in the double-elimination regional.
2013 Mountain West Conference Awards
Player of the Year: Patrice Jackson (San Diego State)
Pitcher of the Year: Rebecca Arbino (San Diego State)
Freshman of the Year: Danielle O'Toole (San Diego State)
Coach of the Year: Kathy Van Wyk (San Diego State)
All-Conference Team
Rebecca Arbino (San Diego State)
Lorena Bauer (San Diego State)
Patrice Jackson (San Diego State)
Danielle O'Toole (San Diego State)
Holly Bourke (Boise State)
Devon Bridges (Boise State)
Tara Glover (Boise State)
Chelsea Biglow (Colorado State)
Kacie McCarthy (Colorado State)
Ashlie Ortega (Colorado State)
Jill Compton (Fresno State)
Paige Gumz (Fresno State)
Vonnie Martin (Fresno State)
Brenna Moss (Fresno State)
Karley Hopkins (Nevada)
Jasmine Jenkins (Nevada)
Emily Haslinger (UNLV)
Amanda Oliveto (UNLV)
Stefany Valentino (UNLV)
Tayler Van Acker (UNLV)