SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Sacramento State right-fielder Hilary Johnson capped off an impressive freshman season today when she was named Pacific Coast Softball Conference (PCSC) Player of the Week after batting .643 (9-for-14) last weekend in a four-game split with Loyola Marymount.The split gave the Hornets a second-place finish in the conference (12-7) and the team''s third-straight 30-win season (30-23). Johnson had multiple-hit contests in all four games against the Lions and scored runs in three of the four games as Sacramento State wrapped up its season last weekend.
The Seaside, Calif., native went 2-for-4 in the first game of Saturday''s doubleheader and followed up that effort with two more hits in the second game. On Sunday, she had a career-high tying three hits in four at-bats in the first game before going 2-for-3 in the nightcap.
Johnson''s late-season barrage pushed her batting average over the .300 mark as she finished the season hitting .304 with a team-high 28 runs scored. She became just the third Hornet freshman in the last nine years to hit .300, joining Lindy Winkler (2003) and Jillian Bivert (2000).
Johnson also excelled against conference competition, hitting .369 with team highs in runs (13), hits (24) and stolen bases (4). In fact, Johnson, who throws right-handed and bats from the left side, hit .444 (20-for-45) over her final 13 games of the season to raise her batting average 49 points during that span.
Sacramento State still has an outside shot of an NCAA Regional at-large berth as selections for the tournament will be made on Sunday, May 15. The Hornets'' winning percentage of .566 this year was the team''s best mark since the 1997 season.