After breaking two Nicholls State University softball home run records in one week, junior third baseman
Ashley Ray was named Southland Conference Hitter of the Week, announced the league office on Monday.
Ray, a native of Lafayette, La., is the first Nicholls softball player to earn a SLC weekly award this season. The last player to receive either hitter or pitcher of the week was pitcher Lacey Gros on March 22, 2010. Several Colonels have earned honorable mention this season, including freshman pitcher
Katie Moulder who received it this week after tossing her first career shutout and recording her first save.
Ray started out the week by setting the Nicholls' single-game record with three home runs in one outing, driving in seven runs in the Colonels' 8-0 victory over Southeastern La. Her final homer, a two-run shot in the sixth, not only gave Nicholls a walk-off victory, but it also put Ray's total for the season at 14, tying the Colonel single-season mark of 14 set by Amy Thibodeaux in 2008.
On Wednesday, Ray broke the record with her 15th homer, and in the Colonels' final home game on Sunday, Ray added a solo shot.
For the week, Ray helped lead the Colonels to four victories, hitting .682 (15-for-22) with five homers, 12 RBIs and had a 1.455 slugging percentage. Against Northwestern State, the league's top pitching staff, she was 7-for-8 with no strikeouts. She heads into the final week of the season leading the Southland in four offensive categories - home runs (16), RBI (48), total bases (117) and slugging percentage (.736). Ray is currently on an 11-game hitting streak, raising her batting average to .371 which ranks second in the league.
