May 11, 2011

LOS ANGELES - For the sixth time this season, LMU has swept the Pacific Coast Softball Conference weekly awards as sophomores Olivia Alvarez and Molly Medeiros were named the Coastal Division co-Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively. Alvarez earned her first career honor, sharing the award this week with Tiffany Gonzales of Saint Mary's, while Medeiros garnered her fourth Pitcher of the Week honor of the season.

Alvarez (Torrance, Calif.) became the fifth different Lion position player to earn Player of Week honors in 2011 as she hit .600 (6-for-10) and drove in six runs to help lift the Lions to the Coastal Division title by overcoming a two-game deficit to San Diego with a four-game sweep. On Saturday, Alvarez's sixth-inning RBI double halted USD's rally attempts and gave the Lions an insurance run in a 3-1 win. She followed that up with a pair of singles as the Lions moved into a tie with a 2-1 win. With the championship on the line on Sunday, Alvarez produced the best performance of her career, going 3-for-4 with a career-high five RBI in a 12-0, 5-inning victory. With LMU leading 1-0, Alvarez delivered a two-run, two-out single that gave the Lions a cushion. Two innings later, she connected on her fifth home run of the season, a three-run shot, to secure the division title.

With the PCSC Coastal Division title on the line, Medeiros (Saratoga, Calif.) helped LMU overcome a two-game deficit and secure a place in the PCSC Championship Series. In Saturday's first game, Medeiros outdueled USD's Kaitlin Healy with a seven-hitter that moved the Lions within one game of the Toreros. Medeiros pitched only one perfect inning but stranded eight USD runners in the 3-1 win. The next day, with LMU needing a victory to clinch the division, Medeiros tossed a five-inning one-hitter, facing just two batter over the minimum. She retired 10 of the game's final 11 batters to win her fifth straight decision with her 17th complete game of the season. Medeiros has now gone nine straight starts of allowing fewer than two earned runs and lowered her ERA in PCSC play to 1.02.

Medeiros is the first LMU pitcher since Tiffany Pagano in 2008 to be named Pitcher of the Week four times in the same season.

LMU will travel to Portland State this Friday-Saturday for the PCSC Championship Series. The winner of the best-of-three series will earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.