Official NWC Release

HILLSBORO, Ore. — A weekend sweep of Willamette University has earned some hardware for the Pacific Lutheran University softball team on Monday from the Northwest Conference with Paola Garcia winning NWC Player of the Week and Paige Wilson netting NWC Pitcher of the Week.
 
Garcia led the Lutes (25-7, 17-3 NWC) at the plate over the weekend, boasting a .571 batting average and a 1.571 slugging percentage in a four-game sweep of Willamette University. Garcia had four RBIs in a 10-1 thrashing of the Bearcats to open the series on Saturday before crushing three hits, including a pair of home runs in a 6-2 win in game two.
 
The Downey, California native was three-for-four with four RBIs in Sunday's 9-1 victory and closed the series by extending her hit streak to six games in an 11-3 win.  

Garcia had five extra base hits over the weekend, including four home runs with 12 RBIs and five runs scored. Garcia had a hit in all four games of the series and belted home runs in three of the four games to put the Lutes in a tie for first place in the NWC standings. 

Wilson continues to be red-hot inside the circle, tossing two complete game gems. The Carlsbad, California native allowed just three hits and issued just one free pass in PLU's 10-1 win over Willamette on Saturday before allowing four hits in a 9-1 victory the following day.

All told, Wilson pitched two complete games, going 10 innings inside the circle with four strikeouts and limiting opponents to a paltry .184 batting average. Wilson yielded just seven hits across the 10 innings and allowed just three walks.

This is the second time this season both Garcia and Wilson have been named NWC Player of the Week with Garcia landing the honor on March 16 while Wilson is capturing Pitcher of the Week for the second consecutive week. 

The Lutes are back on the diamond on Saturday at PLU Field for a four-game series against nationally-ranked Linfield University. With the two conference heavyweights tied atop the league standings with only two weekends remaining, the series will give the winner than inside track to the NWC regular season title and hosting rights for the NWC Tournament.