BROOKLYN, N.Y. - LIU Brooklyn softball sophomore Alina Castillo and freshman Samantha Garcia were named the Northeast Conference Player and Rookie of the Week, respectively, it was announced by the league office Tuesday afternoon. It marks the first time in each of their respective careers that each has earned a NEC weekly honor.
It makes it the second consecutive week a Blackbird has won top player honors, as Ryleigh Bermea won the award last week. It's the fourth time this season for the rookie award, as Garcia's battery-mate Elena Valenzuela won NEC Rookie honors three times.
Castillo, who is currently leading LIU in hitting at a .339 clip for the season, hit .600 in three games last week to lead the Blackbirds to a 2-1 mark, as she went 6-for-10 at the plate with two doubles, five runs scored and five runs batted in. She carried an .800 slugging and .600 on base percentage as well. First, she knocked in LIU's only run of the game in a 4-1 loss to Stony Brook on the road with a first inning RBI single. Then against NEC foe Wagner, the Sacramento, Calif. native went 5-for-7 with two doubles and five runs scored. She scored two runs with an RBI in the 9-1 game one win, then followed with a perfect line in game two - she was 3-for-3 with three runs scored and three runs batted in, with a single and a double coming in the Blackbirds' 11-run third inning and all three runs batted in. On the year, she had started all 39 games in the infield for the Blackbirds and leads the team in batting (.339), doubles (8), total bases (51), slugging pct. (.455), on base (.420) and OPS (.875).
Garcia, who hails from West Covina, Calif., had a strong week at the plate, hitting .625, going 6-for-8 at the plate with five runs batted in for the Blackbirds in a 2-1 week. Currently on a five-game hitting streak, Garcia had one hit in a midweek loss to Stony Brook, then batted 4-for-5 with a walk in six plate appearances in two five-inning wins over Wagner on the weekend. She went 1-for-2 with two RBIs in game one, then went 3-for-3 with three RBIs on a double ( two RBI) and a single (one RBI) all in the team's 11-run third inning. On the season, Garcia leads the Blackbirds with four home runs, while batting .276 with 21 runs batted in.
Up next, the Blackbirds (25-14) will head across the Hudson River for a midweek matchup at Saint Peter's on Thursday, April 25 at 4:00 p.m., as siblings Emily Collins (LIU) and Schieler Collins (SPU) will face off for the first time in their collegiate careers.