BROOKLYN, N.Y. – The LIU Brooklyn softball team capped their last weekend at home with two of the three top weekly honors in the Northeast Conference, as senior Angie Vazquez was named NEC Player of the Week, and freshman Victoria Lowe was named the NEC's Rookie of the Week. It's the first weekly honor for both Blackbirds.
 
Vasquez caught fire from the plate for the Blackbirds, who won three-of-four in NEC play to move into fourth place in the conference standings with an 8-7 mark. The Santa Ana, Calif. product hit .467 for the week with a double, a homer, three runs scored and eight RBIs. She posted a .500 on-base percentage and slugged .733 over five games, which also included an 11-10 win over Rutgers on Wednesday. She hit a three-run bomb in the win over the Scarlet Knights and finished with four RBIs. Vasquez also went 3-3 and drove in three runs in LIU's 8-0 win over FDU on Saturday in the first game of a sweep. She drove in another run in the nightcap and then went 2-3 against Sacred Heart in game two on Sunday. Vasquez leads the Blackbirds with a .371 average on the year.
 
As LIU Brooklyn made its playoff push, Lowe delivered her finest week on the mound in a Blackbird uniform, finishing with a 2-1 record and a save to go along with a 2.21 ERA. In four NEC appearances, she compiled a 3-1 mark and 0.74 ERA with 14 strikeouts and 11 hits allowed over 19.0 innings. In an 8-0, five-inning win over FDU on Saturday, she tossed a two-hit shutout. She went on to throw three scoreless innings in the nightcap, earning the save in the 7-2 win. Lowe delivered her second two-hit shutout of the weekend in game one on Sunday, a 2-0 conquest of Sacred Heart. She struck out seven in the victory. Lowe, who hails from Elk Grove, Calif., has five contributed wins on the year for the surging Blackbirds.