Lexi Stephens of St. Edward’s and Regina Farfan of Cal State Dominguez Hills have been named the Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division II National Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, the NFCA announced on Wednesday. Both student-athletes were honored for their performances during the week ending April 5, 2009.
Lexi Stephens a sophomore shortstop from St. Edward’s, went 15-for-17 over four games last week for an .882 batting average with four doubles, two triples, eight runs scored and five RBI as the Hilltoppers posted a four-game sweep of Incarnate Word for first place in the Heartland Conference.
The Baytown, Texas, native had her biggest output in the second game of the series, going 4-for-5 with a double, triple, three runs scored and three RBI. In games one and four, Stephens was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate. For the season, she is now batting .488 and leads the team in that category as well as hits (82), doubles (12) and runs scored (44) as St. Edwards has won 22 of its last 25 games.
Regina Farfan of Cal State Dominguez Hills was named the Tournament of Champions MVP as she led the Toros to a runner-up tournament finish, starting all eight games in going 6-1 over the tournament with a 0.84 ERA that included 50.0 innings pitched, six complete games and three shutouts.
On day one of pool play, Farfan started all three games in the three wins, hurling two complete game victories and pitching 2.1 innings of game three, allowing just two earned runs in 16.1 innings of work while fanning eight batters against just one walk.
The Chino, Calif., native was just as dominant to close pool play the next day, tossing two more complete game victories against Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene and allowing just one earned run with seven strikeouts and just one walk.
On Championship Sunday, the Toro workhorse tossed a 1-0 gem over 19th-ranked Dixie State to advance CSUDH to the semifinal round, where Farfan threw her sixth and final complete game win in a 4-3 extra inning decision over Western Washington to vault CSUDH to the Championship game, where the senior ace tossed her 47th, 48th, 49th and 50th innings in the eventual 5-3 loss.
Overall, Farfan posted a 6-1 record in eight starts, tossing six complete games and three shutouts in 50.0 innings pitched, limiting opposing batters to a .171 batting average en route to 22 strikeouts against just 6 base on balls.
