DALLAS – NM State’s Jillian Taylor and Desirae Spearman, along with Liberty’s Kaylan Yoder, earned Conference USA Softball weekly honors, presented by Blenders Eyewear.
 
Taylor is the Player of the Week, while Spearman collects her fifth weekly honor and fourth Freshman of the Week recognition. Yoder garners her first Pitcher of the Week title.
 
Player of the Week – Jillian Taylor, NM State – Senior – Outfielder – Spokane, Wash.
Taylor led the Aggies (20-13, 6-3 CUSA) to a 4-1 record, including a sweep of rival New Mexico and a series win over San Diego. She hit 7-15 (.467) with two home runs, eight RBI and six runs scored. Two walks and a HBP increased her OPS to 1.526 on the week. Taylor started the week with a walk-off grand slam against rival New Mexico to win 9-1 in the fifth inning. She also reached on a pair of singles and came around to score in an 8-4 victory to seal the sweep. Taylor added a two-run home run on Saturday to cap off the week.
 
Pitcher of the Week – Kaylan Yoder, Liberty – Freshman – Pitcher – Greenwood, Del.
Yoder tossed two shutouts to lead the Lady Flames (20-14, 10-2) to a series sweep of then first-place LA Tech over the weekend. She allowed just three hits, resulting in a .059 opponent batting average, and struck out 18 batters across 16 innings for the week. Yoder did not allow a LA Tech runner to get past second base over the weekend. In Thursday’s series opener, she tossed a one-hitter, with the lone hit being a bunt single, and struck out eight batters. Yoder pitched a two-hitter to seal the series sweep and struck out eight more batters.
 
Freshman of the Week – Desirae Spearman, NM State – Freshman – Utility – El Paso, Texas
Spearman got the nod in two games for the Aggies last week, going the distance in a pair of dominant wins over New Mexico and San Diego. She went 2-0 with a 1.17 ERA and struck out seven batters. Spearman allowed one unearned run on four hits with five strikeouts in a 9-1 victory over rival New Mexico and followed with another complete game victory in the series opener against San Diego. At the plate, she picked up an RBI on a bases-loaded walk against New Mexico and tallied a pair of RBI in a 9-2 win over San Diego.
 
2024 CUSA Players of the Week
F12       Rachel Roupe, Liberty
F19       Bri Garcia, UTEP
F26      Taylor Sanders, WKU
M4       Amaya Harris, MTSU
M11       Ajia Richard, UTEP
M18      Cheyanne Sales, WKU
M25     Claire Raley, LA Tech
A1        Jillian Taylor, NM State
 
2024 CUSA Pitchers of the Week
F12       Katie Gardner, WKU
F19       Brook Melnychuk, LA Tech
F26      Allie Floyd, LA Tech
M4       Kamryn Carcich, MTSU
M11       Katie Gardner, WKU
M18      Katie Love, Liberty
M25     Desirae Spearman, NM State
A1        Kaylan Yoder, Liberty
 
2024 CUSA Freshmen of the Week
F12       Desirae Spearman, NM State
F19       Desirae Spearman, NM State
F26      Kaylan Yoder, Liberty
M4       Kally Meredith, FIU
M11       Mattison Buster, LA Tech
M18      Desirae Spearman, NM State
M25     Megan Rasmussen, Jax State
A1        Desirae Spearman, NM State