COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- San Diego State softball's Maggie Balint (West Grove, Pa.) and AJ Murphy (Goodyear, Ariz.) have each been named Mountain West Players of the Week, the league announced Tuesday. Balint was chosen as the MW Pitcher of the Week for the seventh time in nine opportunities this season, while Murphy became the third Aztec to be selected as the MW Freshman of the Week.
San Diego State has now won 14 of the 27 MW weekly awards, including seven pitchers of the week, six freshmen and one player.
The duo led SDSU (27-11, 11-1 MW) to a series win at UNLV last weekend. San Diego State, which was picked to win the league along with the Rebels (28-9, 6-3 MW), won on Friday (2-0) and Sunday (7-6 in 11 innings), dropping an 8-7 game in between on Saturday.
Balint, who has now been named the MW Pitcher of the Week nine times for her career, pitched in both Aztec wins, going 1-0 with a 2.33 ERA in 15 innings. Balint struck out 16 with six walks, while limiting a team that led the league in batting average (.330), on-base percentage (.432) and slugging percentage (.560), to a .196 average and just 11 hits. The right-hander tossed a three-hit shutout in a 2-0 SDSU win on Friday night, striking out 10 with three walks. The Rebels were 0-for-12 against Balint with runners on base and 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position. On Sunday, Balint pitched the first eight innings of a 7-6, 11-inning victory, giving up five runs (both on home runs) on eight hits and three walks, striking out six.
On the season, Balint is 13-4 with four saves and a 1.43 ERA, striking out 195 against 25 walks, while limiting her opponents to a .173 average. Among the SDSU single-season leaders, Balint ranks first in winning percentage (.765) and strikeouts per seven innings (10.72), second in opponent average (.173, since 1991), fourth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (9.42), seventh in hits allowed per seven innings (.434), tied for seventh in saves (4) and eighth in WHIP (0.82). Among the national leaders, Balint is tied for fifth in saves (4), eighth in strikeouts (195), 14th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.80), 15th in strikeouts per seven innings (10.72), 28th in ERA (1.43), 34th in hits allowed per seven innings (4.34) and tied for 40th in victories (13).
Murphy, meanwhile, was 4-for-10 (.400) with two RBIs and a run scored. Murphy, who had at least one hit in all three games, also was perfect in the field at shortstop in 12 chances. Murphy was 1-for-3 in a 2-0 Aztec win on Friday and in an 8-7 loss on Saturday. On Sunday, Murphy was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run in SDSU's 7-6 victory in 11 innings.
San Diego State, which is 24th in the latest D1Softball rankings, welcomes Boise State (27-8, 6-3 MW) to SDSU Softball Stadium this weekend for games at 6 p.m. PT Thursday, 6 p.m. PT Friday and noon PT Saturday.