DALLAS – Liberty’s Rachel Roupe and Katie Love, along with NM State’s Emily Dix, earned Conference USA Softball weekly honors, presented by Blenders Eyewear.
 
Roupe picks up her second Player of the Week award, while Love garners her second weekly recognition and first Freshman of the Week honor. Dix nabs her first Pitcher of the Week title.
 
Player of the Week – Rachel Roupe, Liberty – Junior – Outfielder – Sharpsburg, Md.
Roupe continued her assault on opposing pitching with a pair of two-homer games this week, finishing the week 6-10 at the plate with four homers, eight RBI, seven runs, a .750 on base percentage and a 1.900 slugging percentage. On Tuesday at Longwood, she blasted a pair of two-run homers in the first and third innings to power the Lady Flames (31-19, 19-5 CUSA) to a 9-3 victory. During Liberty's 9-6 series-opening win at UTEP, Roupe went 3-3 with two homers, a double, four RBI and two runs scored. She hit a solo homer in the third and an eventual game-winning, two-run shot in the sixth as Liberty wrapped up the regular-season title and No. 1 seed in the 2024 CUSA Softball Championship. Roupe wrapped up the week by scoring a pair of runs scored in a 12-1 victory on Saturday and drawing walks in each of her four plate appearances on Sunday.
 
Pitcher of the Week – Emily Dix, NM State – Senior – Pitcher – Albuquerque, N.M.
Dix delivered a masterclass in the circle for the Aggies (27-21, 12-9 CUSA) on Senior Day with a complete-game, one-hit shutout in a 6-0 win over LA Tech. She carried a no-hitter into the final frame and, after allowing the game’s only hit, retired the next three batters in order to close the weekend in the win column. After surrendering a leadoff walk to begin the game, Dix retired 12-straight Bulldogs with five going down on strikes. She surpassed her career-high tally in strikeouts after punching out nine LA Tech batters, giving her a team-high 59 strikeouts on the season. For the week, Dix posted a 0.88 ERA in eight innings.
 
Freshman of the Week – Katie Love, Liberty – Freshman – Pitcher – Pembroke, Va.
Love appeared in three games this week, going 1-0 with a 2.33 ERA, seven strikeouts and a .190 opponent batting average in six innings pitched. On Tuesday, she pitched a hitless inning of relief at Longwood, walking one and fanning two. She then earned the win on Saturday, pitching the first three innings of the five-inning victory. She allowed one run on two hits, walking two and striking out a pair of UTEP batters. On Sunday, Love pitched two relief innings, giving up one run on two hits, with one walk and three strikeouts. She allowed just one extra-base hit to the 26 batters she faced throughout the week.
 
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
A8        Elia Hebel, Sam Houston
A15      Devin Elam, NM State
A22      TJ Webster, WKU
A29      Rachel Roupe, Liberty
 
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
A8        Kat Carter, Jax State
A15      Elena Escobar, Liberty
A22      Faith Aragon, UTEP
A29      Emily Dix, NM State
 
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
A8        Amy Abke, Sam Houston
A15      Kaylan Yoder, Liberty
A22      Desirae Spearman, NM State
A29      Katie Love, Liberty