University of Massachusets Athletics
Quianna Diaz-Patterson Named Atlantic 10 Player of the Week
April 20, 2015 | Softball
AMHERST, Mass. - Massachusetts senior shortstop Quianna Diaz-Patterson was named the Atlantic 10 Conference Player of the Week, as announced by the league on Monday.
Diaz-Patterson hit .722 with an on-base percentage of .808 and a slugging percentage of 1.389, along with three home runs, three doubles, six RBI and 13 runs scored. Behind the Amherst, Mass. native, UMass went 6-1 overall and 5-0 in A-10 play, moving from ninth to sixth place.
She drew seven walks and opened six of the seven games by reaching base as the leadoff hitter. Diaz-Patterson also scored two game-winning runs and drew a walk that loaded the bases, eventually leading to a winning run.
She is currently hitting .525, which ranks second in the country, while her .607 on-base pct. is sixth overall and her .929 slugging pct. is 16th. Her batting avg. is on pace to break both the UMass (.465) and Atlantic 10 (.487) single-season records. She also has nine home runs, nine doubles, two triples, 22 RBI and 35 runs. The lefty leadoff hitter is hitting .563 in 17 league games.
UMass is scheduled to play a doubleheader at Boston University on Wednesday before traveling to league-leader Dayton for a three-game set Saturday and Sunday.
Also honored by the league were Fordham junior Rachel Gillen for Pitcher of the Week and George Mason freshman Liz Seymour for Rookie of the Week.
** From the A-10 Release **
Gillen went 3-1, winning all three starts to help Fordham win four of five conference games. The southpaw from Wilmington, Del., tossed 18.2 innings and allowed only three earned runs on 12 hits, while walking five and fanning 23. In the first game against St. Bonaventure, Gillen earned the win allowing two earned runs on five hits with four strikeouts and no walks. In the series opener against Saint Joseph's, she limited the conference's top offensive team to just three hits over 5.0 innings. She also did not issue a walk and struck out 10 to give her double-digit strikeouts for the seventh time this season. Gillen then pitched a fabulous game in the series finale with two-hit complete-game shutout, as she walked three and fanned eight.
Seymour, a native of Saint John, Ind., hit .500 in three conference games last week. Playing first base all weekend, she was 6-for-12 with seven runs scored and three RBI. She went 2-for-4 in the first game of the doubleheader with Rhode Island, scoring twice and batting in another run. She also walked and stole a base in game one. In the nightcap she was 3-for-4, nearly hitting for the cycle with a single, a triple and a home run. Seymour was 1-for-4 with two walks in the third game of the series on Sunday. She scored all three times she reached to help Mason turn back a marathon, 10-inning Rhody rally.
