IRVINE, Calif. – Junior pitcher
Taylor Rodriguez was named PacWest Pitcher of the Year and
Tiare Guerrero was named PacWest Co-Defender of the Year with Dominican softball placing a program-best five players on the All-PacWest teams.
The Penguins have already set plenty of history this year with a program best in wins (32), home runs (23) and runs batted in (194) as they get set to compete in the PacWest Championships for the first time Wednesday. Rodriguez and Guerrero became the first softball players from Dominican to earn special awards in PacWest postseason honors.
Rodriguez set a new program record for single season wins with 18 this season, which also leads the conference. She also leads the conference with a 1.44 ERA and six shutouts and ranks in the top-25 nationally in all three categories. Rodriguez has also been a fantastic hitter this season with a team-high six home runs and 28 RBI on .283 average as she was named First Team All-PacWest.
Guerrero leads all conference shortstops in fielding percentage this season finishing the year with a .965 fielding percentage on 227 chances with 115 putouts and 104 assists. She has been involved in half of the teams 20 double plays this season. Guerrero was slow on offense but found her form again late in the season to finish with a .307 average with 27 runs scored and .358 on-base percentage. Guerrero was named Third Team All-PacWest for her total contributions.
Junior thirdbaseman
Kate Tobola was named Second Team All-PacWest after she overcame an early season injury to help Dominican reach new heights on offense with .310 with 10 doubles, 1 triple, five home runs and 17 RBI. She was also a terror for opposing catchers on the base paths going a perfect 13-13 on steals while scoring a team-high 30 runs. Joining Guerrero as Third Team All-PacWest selections were senior catcher
Taylor Eby and senior outfielder
Melissa Garcia. The seniors saved their best season for last as Eby batted .317 with nine doubles and 20 RBI. She had two walk-off hits this season to lead the Penguins to victories over Chaminade and Jessup, while throwing out eight attempted steals this season. Garcia started the season as a sure thing on the base paths as the leadoff batter and did not let up the rest of the year finishing with a team best .348 average and .401 on-base percentage.
Dominican will be in action Wednesday as it takes on No. 1 seed Biola at 2 p.m. PDT at Golden Eagle Stadium on the campus of Concordia University Irvine.
