IRVINE, Calif. – Coming off an impressive sweep of Saint Martin's this past Saturday, the No. 10 Concordia University Irvine softball team also swept the three weekly awards from the PacWest Conference.

PacWest Player of the Week - Sydney Sprinkle
 
CUI sophomore slugger Sydney Sprinkle hit 5-for-9 (.556) with 3 doubles and 4 RBI in Saturday's two wins over the Saints. The 2019 PacWest Freshman of the Year is hitting .476 this season and leads the Eagles with 10 RBI and 10 hits in seven contests. Her 10 RBI lead the entire PacWest Conference as well. The Palm Desert, Calif. native also continues to show her versatility by toggling between first base and catcher.

"I am honored to be selected as Player of the Week," said Sprinkle. "It's awesome to know all the hard work we put in during practice is paying off along with feeling all the support and motivation from my teammates and coaches is rad."

A third team NFCA All-American last spring, Sprinkle was also recently named to the national "watch list" for the 2020 Schutt Sports / NFCA Division II National Player and Pitcher of the Year Awards. A select group of 50 softball players in NCAA DII are selected in the early stage of the season and the list is whittled down to the top pitcher and top player by the end of the season.
 
PacWest Pitcher of the Week - Callie Nunes
 
Junior pitcher Callie Nunes earned the title of PacWest Pitcher of the Week for the second time this season on Monday. She pitched brilliantly on Saturday, striking out nine batters and allowing only one hit in four shutout innings against Saint Martin's. The Modesto, Calif. native and Ceres High School alum improved to 3-0 with the victory and has only allowed one earned run in 20.0 innings of work this year. On top of all that, she owns a miniscule 0.35 ERA.

Nunes also joined Sprinkle on the Watch List for the 2020 Schutt Sports / NFCA Division II National Player and Pitcher of the Year Awards. CUI was one of just ten schools to have multiple players under consideration for these prestigious national awards. Nunes was one of two pitchers to lead all of NCAA DII last year with 33 victories on the mound and was a Top 10 Finalist for the NFCA DII National Pitcher of the Year Award in 2019 as well. Among her many accomplishments during her time at Concordia, Nunes has been recognized nationally each of the last two seasons as a NFCA First-Team All-American, a D2CCAA All-American and a Fastpitch News (FPN) All-American. She has earned the title of PacWest Pitcher of the Year as both a freshman and as a sophomore.

For the full release on the 50 players named to the 2020 NFCA DII Pitcher & Player of the Year Watch List, click here.
 
PacWest Freshman of the Week - Rae Flores
 
Left-handed pitcher Rae Flores earned her first career victory with the Green and Gold by allowing just one hit in five shutout innings of work in No. 10 Concordia's 6-0 win over Saint Martin's. Flores also notched four strikeouts and calmly navigated around three walks before handing off to sophomore Erika Morris. Morris hit a home run and pitched two more solid innings to join Flores for the combined shutout. Flores also earned two saves earlier this month in the Concordia Kickoff Classic.

"Getting this recognition shows me that all of the work that I have put in up to this point has paid off," said an excited Flores. "My teammates and coaches help me get better every day and I wouldn't be where I am without their help. I always feel comfortable and in my element when I'm out on the field because I know that no matter what, the girls around me have my back, and I am confident that we will always do whatever it takes to win."

"It was a great weekend for us overall and we improved a lot from our first weekend," said CUI head coach Crystal Rosenthal. "Our pitching was outstanding, all four kids threw well and Callie and Rae were both great. Sprinkle hit the ball hard all day and led our offense so she deserves to be recognized."

"To be recognized is nice, but to be recognized with teammates right by your side is that much better," said Nunes. "Our entire team has been working tremendously hard the past couple weeks and to see Syd get honored with Player of the Week for her defensive and offensive play is great and for Rae to be honored as Freshman of the Week is amazing because she has been working nonstop in the bullpen and she deserves it. They both do."

"We've got four great pitchers and they each in their own right could be somebody else's number one," added Rosenthal. "We had a big improvement in the two weeks since we played last and I thought they were fantastic (Saturday) and I expect to see big things from our pitching staff."

The Eagles are now 6-1 as they prepare for their next 14 games on the road starting this Saturday. They open up conference play at Azusa Pacific this coming weekend with a doubleheader before flying to Hawaii for their next dozen PacWest games.
 
For the full CUI softball schedule, click here.

For the preseason preview of the CUI softball team, click here.