Long Beach State University Athletics
Apodaca, Barnett Claim Weekly Awards From Big West
3/30/2026 3:20:00 PM | Softball
Long Beach State Softball is coming off of a road sweep at UC San Diego.
LONG BEACH, Calif. – Long Beach State Softball had two weekly award winners announced Monday by the Big West, as sophomore Lina Apodaca was named the Player of the Week and junior Kate Barnett was chosen as the Pitcher of the Week.
Apodaca continued her hot hitting to earn Big West Player of the Week. The team's leading hitter with a .392 batting average, Apodaca had an on-base percentage of .667 on the road at UC San Diego in a sweep of the Tritons. The sophomore went 6-for-10 with a walk and a hit by pitch, scoring three runs and hitting safely in all three games in La Jolla.
Her best performance came in Saturday's mercy-rule win, where she went 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored.
Kate Barnett was outstanding in two relief appearances to earn Pitcher of the Week. Earning a win and a save, Barnett did not allow a run in 4.2 innings of work and gave up just four hits. On Friday, Barnett struck out Samantha Womack to end a UCSD rally and worked a scoreless seventh inning to collect her first save of the season. The next day, Barnett earned the win as Long Beach State came from behind in the seventh inning, as the junior helped give the Beach that opportunity with 3.1 innings of scoreless pitching.
In a unique coincidence, it is the second Big West weekly award for both, as Barnett was the Pitcher of the Week and Lina Apodaca was the Freshman of the Week again in the same week in 2024, coming on March 31 following a sweep of UC Davis.
Apodaca continued her hot hitting to earn Big West Player of the Week. The team's leading hitter with a .392 batting average, Apodaca had an on-base percentage of .667 on the road at UC San Diego in a sweep of the Tritons. The sophomore went 6-for-10 with a walk and a hit by pitch, scoring three runs and hitting safely in all three games in La Jolla.
Her best performance came in Saturday's mercy-rule win, where she went 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored.
Kate Barnett was outstanding in two relief appearances to earn Pitcher of the Week. Earning a win and a save, Barnett did not allow a run in 4.2 innings of work and gave up just four hits. On Friday, Barnett struck out Samantha Womack to end a UCSD rally and worked a scoreless seventh inning to collect her first save of the season. The next day, Barnett earned the win as Long Beach State came from behind in the seventh inning, as the junior helped give the Beach that opportunity with 3.1 innings of scoreless pitching.
In a unique coincidence, it is the second Big West weekly award for both, as Barnett was the Pitcher of the Week and Lina Apodaca was the Freshman of the Week again in the same week in 2024, coming on March 31 following a sweep of UC Davis.
Players Mentioned
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