DALLAS – FIU’s Kennedy Byrd, Sam Houston’s Tiffany Sanchez and NM State’s Destan Burks earned Conference USA Softball weekly honors.
 
Byrd garners Player of the Week honors, while Sanchez is the Pitcher of the Week, and Burks is the Freshman of the Week.
 
Player of the Week – Kennedy Byrd, FIU – Senior – DP – Benson, N.C.
Byrd enjoyed a monster week at the plate in a road series victory for the Panthers (28-13, 10-8 CUSA), hitting .750 (6-8) with three home runs, five RBI and five runs. She homered twice in consecutive at-bats in game two on Saturday to give FIU an early 3-0 advantage. Byrd tacked on another round-tripper in the series finale as she went 3-3 with a solo shot, a double and an RBI single in the 5-3 triumph. She also went 1-2 in Friday’s opener, pushing a two-out single through the left side before Janelle Martinez homered to start the scoring. Byrd drew three walks over the weekend, allowing her to reach base safely in 9-12 plate appearances. She ran her tallies up to 10 home runs and 40 RBI on the year, both of which are the most by a Panther since 2017.
 
Pitcher of the Week – Tiffany Sanchez, Sam Houston – Sophomore – Del Valle, Texas
Sanchez (10-6) tossed 10 innings across three victories for the Bearkats (27-19, 11-7 CUSA) in a 3-1 week, which included a series victory over Missouri State. She went 1-0 with a save, 10 strikeouts, three hits and no walks, giving her a .094 opponent batting average and a 0.30 WHIP. The highlight of her week came as she set the tone for the weekend series with a shutout of the Bears on Friday. In seven frames, she matched her career high with nine strikeouts and scattered just two hits to earn her sixth CUSA shutout on the year. Earlier in the week, Sanchez picked up her second save of the season after she took over for the final inning of a 7-6 victory over rival Stephen F. Austin, allowing one hit with one strikeout as she shut the door on the Ladyjacks. In Sunday’s series-clinching win over Mo State, she hurled two perfect innings to close it out.
 
Freshman of the Week – Destan Burks, NM State – Utility – Red Oak, Texas
Burks powered the Aggies to a sweep of rival UTEP from the plate, batting 5-8 (.625) with three home runs, seven RBI and four runs. On Friday, she helped NM State regain the lead with a three-run shot in the second inning and added a fourth RBI to aid the Aggies in blowing the game open with a four-run third. Burks went 1-2 with a solo blast in a 3-0 victory on Saturday and finished the weekend with a 3-4 outing from the No. 2 hole on Sunday. She left the yard for the third time in as many games and walked it off with an RBI single to initiate the run-rule in the home half of the fifth inning.  
 
2026 CUSA Players of the Week
F9      Devin Elam, NM State
F16     Reagan Marchant, LA Tech
F23     Savannah Jessee, Liberty
M2      Annie White, WKU
M9      Faith Aragon, NM State
M16    Brynn McManus, Liberty
M23    Tamara Carranza, NM State
M30    Aria Davis, Jax State
A6      Brynn McManus, Liberty
A13     Kennedy Byrd, FIU
 
2026 CUSA Pitchers of the Week
F9      Erica Houge, WKU
F16     Maddy Wood, WKU
F23     Allie Floyd, LA Tech
M2      Erica Houge, WKU
M9      Tiffany Sanchez, Sam Houston
M16    Allie Floyd, LA Tech
M23    Makenna Moore, Jax State
M30    Kendall Daniel, Sam Houston
A6      Makenna Moore, Jax State
A13     Tiffany Sanchez, Sam Houston
 
2026 CUSA Freshmen of the Week
F9      Bryannah Campos, LA Tech
F16     Emily Koranda, Missouri State
F23     Makenna Moore, Jax State
M2      Karli Challburg, Delaware
M9      Lucie McDonald, MTSU
M16    Makenna Moore, Jax State
M23    Maci Strickland, Liberty
M30    Emily Koranda, Missouri State
A6      Bradi Gallaway, LA Tech
A13     Destan Burks, NM State