Mountain West Conference Announces Softball Player and Pitcher of the Week - Feb. 22, 2011 Jessica Fitu BYU

 

C
5-9, Sr.
Walnut, CA / Nogales HS

At BYU
JUNIOR - (2010): Started and played in 57 games ... NFCA/Louisville Slugger Pacific All-Region Second Team ... Mountain West All-Conference First Team ... finished second in the MWC in triples (3), third in RBI (52), fifth in total bases (105), sixth in hits (64), eighth in slugging percentage (.603) and ninth in batting average (.368) ... was sixth in the conference with a .997 fielding percentage ... second on t... (More)

SOPHOMORE - (2009): Ranked third in the nation with 1.51 RBI per game, 14th in home runs per game, 15th in slugging percentage, 8th in home runs...named Tournament MVP at the Bayer Cropscience Classic in Fresno, Calif....hit first home run of the season with a grand slam against Southern Utah on Feb. 6, her first career grand slam...has 21 multiple RBI games and 20 multiple hit games...led the conference in batting a... (More)

FRESHMAN - (2008): Was an integral part of the NCAA Regional-qualifying team as a freshman ... contributed both offensively batting .297 with 12 home runs and 36 RBI, but also contributed defensively starting 60 of 62 games...played as both catcher and shortstop...belted a home run in first collegiate at-bat on Feb. 7 against Southern Utah...went 4-for-5 with 2 RBI on Feb. 9 against Rhode Island ... recorded a seaso... (More)

Before BYU
Prepped at Nogales High ... four-year softball letterwinner ... named All-League First Team three times ... stole over 25 bases every season for her high school team ... named San Antonio League MVP in 2007 ... named All-CIF First Team twice ... lettered in basketball ... named to president's honor roll all four years of high school

Personal
Parents are Papaloa and Angie Ili ... born in West Covina, CA ... married Matt Fitu in June 2009 in the San Diego Temple ... has three brothers and two sisters ... sister Jenavieve played at New Mexico State ... grandmother is Leau ... cousin of former teammate Angeline Quiocho ... majoring in exercise science, pre-med 

Feb. 22, 2011

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - BYU catcher Jessica Fitu has been named Mountain West Conference Softball Player of the Week, while teammate Hannah Howell has been named Pitcher of the Week, for games played from Feb. 14-20. It is Fitu's fourth career honor and Howell's first of her career. Fitu's previous three honors came in 2009 when she was a sophomore and going by her maiden name, Jessica Purcell. The nationally-ranked Cougars went 4-1 last week in the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic in Las Vegas.

Fitu, a 5-9 senior from Walnut, Calif., hit .750 over five games last week. Fitu recorded 12 hits in 16 at-bats and had six walks and a hit by pitch to up her on-base percentage to .826. She started the tournament hitting 3-for-3 with a run scored, a double and two RBI in BYU's 10-5 win against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville on Feb. 17. Against Cal Poly on Friday morning, Fitu was walked three times in five plate appearances and followed up with a 3-for-5 performance against Boise State with two runs scored, a double, a home run and two RBI. The Cougars won both games, 8-6 vs. Cal Poly and 12-11 against Boise State. Stanford walked Fitu three times, twice intentionally, to start the action on Saturday morning. She was able to get a hit and an RBI in the 7-4 loss to the Cardinal. In an 11-0 win against Cal State Northridge to cap off the tournament, Fitu was 5-for-5 with a run scored, a grand slam home run and 6 RBI.

Howell, a 5-3 sophomore from Winnfield, La., threw 11.1 innings of relief over three games last week, not allowing an earned run while collecting 15 strikeouts and earning her first two wins of the season. Howell started the week with 6.0 innings against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, holding the Cougars to no runs and just two hits. She struck out a career-high nine batters, helping BYU come from behind to a 10-5 win. Her second win of the season came against Cal Poly with 5.0 innings of five-hit and five-strikeout ball in the 8-6 win. Against Boise State, Howell got in just a third of an inning of work to close out the week.