UCLA junior 1B/P Megan Langenfeld has been selected as the Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I National Player of the Week, the NFCA announced on Tuesday. Langenfeld has been honored for her performances in the week ending April 26, 2009.
Last week, Langenfeld hit .600 (6-for-10) with two home runs and three runs batted in at the plate while going 3-0 with a 1.65 earned run average in the circle to help the second-ranked Bruins to a three-game sweep of the Arizona schools.
On Friday at then-No. 7 Arizona, Langenfeld held the nation’s top offense to just four hits, tying a season high with eight strikeouts in the complete-game effort. She struck out the side in the first, two in the third and one in the fourth, sixth and seventh. Langenfeld held two of the nation’s top home run hitters hitless in Jenae Leles and Stacie Chambers (combined 0-for-5), striking out Chambers twice. Besides giving up a sixth-inning home run, Langenfeld never allowed a runner past first base. At the plate, the junior had a hit in four at-bats.
On Saturday at then-No. 5 Arizona State, Langenfeld helped her own cause, getting the Bruins off to a great start with a two-run home run in the top of the first to give UCLA a 2-0 advantage. She also singled in her third at-bat to finish the game 2-for-3. In the circle, Langenfeld earned a complete-game victory, as the Bruins posted a five-inning 9-1 win over the Sun Devils. She gave up one run, three hits and two walks in five innings.
The Bakersfield, Calif., native again earned the win in the circle on Sunday at ASU, this time in relief, and reached in all five appearances at the plate. For the second consecutive contest, Langenfeld got the Bruins on the board in the top of the first with a solo home run to make it 1-0. She then had four at-bats in as many innings from the fourth to the seventh. In the fourth, she was hit by a pitch and reached base one inning later via a walk. In her final two at-bats, Langenfeld singled in both the sixth and seventh for her fourth three-hit game of the season and ninth multiple-hit contest. In the circle, she allowed four runs (two earned), five hits and two walks in five innings with one strikeout. Along with the two unearned runs because of an error, another ASU run came in when the Bruins’ defense lost a fly ball in the sun.
UCLA remains at No. 2 in this week’s USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll.