On a cold, gloomy Tuesday afternoon, the U softball team received good news that pitcher Ashley Smuda is taking home MWC Pitcher of the Week honors for her performance last week.
She became the second Ute to take home a conference award in as many weeks after Kara Foster earned Player of the Week on Tuesday.
“It’s really a great honor,” said Smuda, who is a sophomore in her first year as a Ute. “But it’s really been more of a team effort. They’re the ones making the hits and earning the runs. They play great team defense behind me.”
Smuda transferred to Utah from Temple University last summer for multiple reasons, one of them to be closer to her home of Scottsdale, Ariz.
In nearly 16 innings pitched last week, Smuda struck out 13 batters and allowed one hit on her way to earning two wins.
Against UNLV on Saturday, Smuda tossed her second no-hitter of the season and became the first Ute to toss two no-hitters in a season since 1997 when Ali Andrus-Sagas did it.
The Utes’ double-header against Utah State planned for Tuesday was canceled because of the snowstorm. There are no plans for the two teams to play for the remainder of the season.
“I was hoping we’d play today, but that wouldn’t have been fun to play in the snow,” Smuda said.
The Utes now await archrival BYU for Friday’s game at 7 p.m.