Bull, Thompson sweep WCC weekly awards

SAN BRUNO, Calif. – After leading BYU softball to a series sweep of Saint Mary’s over the weekend, McKenna Bull and Ashley Thompson swept the conference weekly awards, winning West Coast Conference Pitcher and Player of the Week.

This is the fifth honor for Bull this season and the first time for Thompson. It is also the first time this season a BYU player has won the WCC Player of the Week honor.

Thompson dominated from the plate this week, batting .818 over BYU’s four games played last week. She helped the team to a five-game win streak after beating Utah Valley for the season sweep and a series sweep of WCC leader Saint Mary’s. She went 9 for 11, including a perfect 7 for 7 and three home runs in the doubleheader against the Gaels on Friday. She also tallied seven RBI, five of which came in the second game against Saint Mary’s and tied a career high. After this week, Thompson now leads the team in batting average with .397 on the season. She also has the most hits with 48 and is second on the team in home runs and RBI with nine and 32, respectively.

Her first home run of the weekend came in the first game of the doubleheader, which was a solo shot over left field that scored the first run of the game. The other two homers were in the night cap, two-run and a three-run blasts to keep the Cougars out in front. Thompson also laid down a sacrifice bunt in the final game against the Gaels to advance the runner to second, which allowed her to score on the next at-bat for the only run of the game.

Bull improved her record to 21-11 after four wins this week, including three shutouts. After taking a 1-0 shutout over Utah Valley, she led the team to a series sweep of Saint Mary’s, who was currently first place in the WCC. She totaled 22 strikeouts, including 11 in the final game against the Gaels. Over the 24.0 innings pitched, she had a 0.29 ERA, giving up just one run and walking only seven.

Following this week, Bull moves up in the BYU record book in shutouts. She now holds the record for shutouts in a single season with nine, breaking her own record of eight. She is also tied for first with Paige Affleck in career shutouts with 20. This season, she has 233 strikeouts, which is good for fourth place in a single season at BYU.

Check out the WCC's release on the weekly awards.

Bull was also named the College Sports Madness WCC Softball Player of the Week.

BYU hits the road this weekend to take on Pacific in a three-game series. The teams will face off in a doubleheader on Friday with the third game played on Saturday.