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SAN FRANCISCO - Redshirt freshman Aaliyah Jordan and redshirt sophomore Rachel Garcia swept the Pac-12 Conference weekly awards on Monday, as Jordan was named Player and Freshman of the Week, while Garcia earned Pitcher of the Week accolades for the second week in a row.
It is just the second time in Pac-12 history, since the advent of the Freshman of the Week award in 2015, that one school has swept all three honors in the same week. Jordan's multiple honors mark only the fourth time in conference history since 2015 that someone has been named Player and Freshman of the Week in the same week.
Garcia picked up her fifth Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week award, and it is also the first time she has gone back-to-back, as she also won the plaudit three times in 2017 (Feb. 21, April 11 and April 25). Jordan's FOW is her fifth of the season (Feb. 20, Feb. 27, March 13 and April 2). The Bruins have earned 10 conference weekly honors this season, with Briana Perez also receiving Freshman of the Week on Feb. 13 and Garcia being named Player of the Week last Monday.
Jordan went 3-for-9 (.333) with two home runs and three runs batted in during the Bruins' three-game sweep of #1 Washington. In game one on Friday (April 20), Jordan singled in her first at-bat and then broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning on a solo homer. It proved to be the game-winning run in the 3-0 victory. On Saturday (April 21), the redshirt freshman took over the team lead for home runs with a two-run blast off the top of a tree in right field, her ninth of the season, to tie the game at two, a contest the Bruins eventually won on a walk-off homer in the seventh.
Garcia was flawless in the circle, throwing 13 shutout innings and recording 18 strikeouts, picking up two wins and a save. She limited the Huskies to four hits and two walks. In game one, she tossed a complete-game, three-hitter, striking out 10 in seven innings and giving up just three hits and a walk. Garcia came in relief in game two and fanned six in 4 1/3 innings of one-hit, one-walk ball for another victory. She capped off the weekend by earning a save on Sunday (April 22), retiring all five batters she faced, including two by strikeout.
The Bruins take a break from Pac-12 play this weekend, hosting a round-robin tournament with #19 Oklahoma State and South Dakota at Easton Stadium. UCLA will play a doubleheader on Friday (OSU at 4:30 p.m. and USD at 7 p.m.) before another twinbill on Saturday (OSU at 2 p.m. and USD at 4:30 p.m.).