FRISCO – Texas A&M University-Commerce softball pitcher Julia Sanchez has been named the Southland Conference Pitcher of the Week on Monday afternoon, becoming the first Lion to earn the honor this season.
 
Sanchez (The Kinkaid School) pitched to an earned run average of 0.72 this week, including two shutout wins. She threw her first career no-hitter in Friday's 1-0 win over UIW and followed that up with a complete-game shutout in a 1-0 win on Saturday, which gave A&M-Commerce its first conference series win of the year.
 
The sophomore pitcher struck out 13 last week, starting twice against UIW and at No. 12/11 Arkansas, who she held to two earned runs in five innings.
 
This is first career weekly honor for Sanchez and first for the Lions since moving up to NCAA Division I.
 
The Lions host Northwestern State in the final home series this weekend. Friday's doubleheader begins at 5 p.m. and the Saturday finale is set for noon, with the Senior Day ceremony happening after the game.
 
2023 Southland Softball Players of the Week

Date	Hitter of the Week	Pitcher of the Week
Feb. 13	Lexi Johnson, Southeastern	Cera Blanchard, Southeastern
Feb. 20	Lexi Johnson, Southeastern (2)	Maggie Darr, Northwestern State
Feb. 27	Melise Gossen, Nicholls	Whitney Tate, McNeese
Mar. 6	Makenzie Chaffin, Northwestern State	Primrose Aholelei, A&M-Corpus Christi
Mar. 13	Maria Detillier, Southeastern	Audrey McNeill, Nicholls
Mar. 20	Mariana Torres, McNeese	Katy Janes, HCU
Mar. 27	Bailey Krolczyk, Southeastern	KK Ladner, Southeastern
Apr. 3	Crislyne Moreno, McNeese	Whitney Tate, McNeese (2)
Apr. 10	Bailey Krolczyk, Southeastern (2)	Ashley Vallejo, McNeese
Apr. 17	Erin Ardoin, McNeese	Primrose Aholelei, A&M-Corpus Christi (2)
Apr. 24	Emily Phillips, McNeese	Julia Sanchez, A&M-Commerce