Former El Paso prep stars-turned UTEP, NMSU standouts honored by CUSA
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – UTEP’s Bri Garcia and New Mexico State’s Desirae Spearman earned Conference USA Softball weekly honors on Monday after big weekends for their respective schools.
Garcia was named the Conference USA Player of the Week; Spearman earned CUSA Freshman of the Week honors for the second week in a row. Garcia and Spearman are both former high school stars in El Paso; Garcia played at Americas for the Trail Blazers’ 2022 Class 6A Final Four team, while Spearman was a superstar at Hanks.
Garcia had an impressive week for the Miners (10-2), who achieved a commendable 6-1 record. She started all seven games at second base and went 8-17 at the plate, resulting in a slash line of .471/.550/.882.
Garcia drove in 10 runs, crossed the plate seven times and delivered key hits, including a pair of doubles and home runs. Her defensive performance was equally outstanding with nine putouts and 13 assists for a flawless 1.000 fielding percentage. Garcia’s exceptional week earned her a spot on the UTEP Invitational All-Tournament Team.
Spearman – the defending CUSA Freshman of the Week – delivered once again, posting a complete-game one-hitter in a weekend-opening 3-0 win over Big 10 foe Nebraska on Friday. Spearman punched out four Huskers and surrendered just one walk.
She followed it up by striking out seven of her 12 batters faced over the first three innings of Saturday’s 8-7 win over Montana. At the plate, Spearman went 8-12 with half her hits leaving the yard to give her six home runs on the year. She racked up seven RBI and 23 total bases over the weekend, while slashing .667/.714/1.917.
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