OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. --- Bruin second baseman Caitlin Benyi (Scottsdale, Ariz.) was honored as the USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Week after batting .750 while leading the two-time defending national champion UCLA Bruins in a three-game weekend sweep of No. 3 Arizona and Arizona State.
“We had a great weekend and I'm excited to see our team on the upswing,” said Benyi. “It's important for us to keep this momentum going for the rest of the season. It's an honor to win this award since I'm sure there were so many other great athletes nominated for their performances.”
Going 6-for-8 with six runs scored, the junior contributed a double, three home runs and six RBI for a 2.000 slugging percentage. With her one walk and two hit-by-pitches figured in, Benyi had an .818 on-base percentage for the week (reached base 9 of 11 plate appearances) and was perfect defensively on six chances. With her performance this past week, Benyi was able to raise her season average by 30 points (from .330 to .360) despite the fact that the Bruins are now 43 games into the 2005 season.
"Caitlin's game really came together this weekend,” said UCLA head coach Sue Enquist. “With her consistent play and clutch hitting, she led our team this weekend."
In Friday's win over Arizona, Benyi went 3-for-4 with three runs scored, including the game-winning run (UCLA's first of the game). In that contest, Benyi had a double in the third inning, coming around to score, a single and a run scored in the sixth, and a solo home run in the top of the seventh for UCLA's sixth and final run.
In Saturday's victory over the Sun Devils, Benyi was hit by a pitch in the first inning, had a grand slam home run in the third and was hit by a pitch in the seventh. Sunday's run-rule win saw Benyi go 2-for-2 with two runs scored, including a solo home run in the fourth inning.
The USA Softball National Player of the Week is designed to acknowledge outstanding athletic achievement by individuals on a weekly basis. Each recipient of the USA Softball National Player of the Week Award will receive an engraved plaque and will be national recognized for their accomplishments. A complete list of winners can be found on the USA Softball web site at www.usasoftball.com.
About ASA
The Amateur Softball Association, founded in 1933, is the National Governing Body of softball in the United States and a member of the United States Olympic Committee. The ASA has become one of the nation’s largest sports organizations and now sanctions competition in every state through a network of 88 local associations. The ASA has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 240,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than three million. For more information on the ASA, visit www.asasoftball.com.
About USA Softball
USA Softball is the brand created, operated and owned by the ASA that links the USA Men’s, Women’s, Junior Boys’ and Junior Girls’ National Team programs together. USA Softball is responsible for training, equipping and promoting these four National Teams to compete in international and domestic competitions. The USA Softball Women’s National Team is one of the only two women’s ¬sports involved in the Olympic movement to capture three consecutive gold medals at the Olympic Games since 1996. The U.S. women have also won seven World Championship titles including the last five consecutive.
< Back to previous page