Blinka’s big week leads to RRAC Player of the Week honors

WACO – The Red River Athletic Conference named UHV's Claire Blinka its softball Player of the Week for the week of April 17-23.

It's the third time this year a UHV softball player has earned weekly conference honors with Cameron Cowan getting Pitcher of the Week twice earlier this season.

"Claire stepped up in a big way for us last week and I couldn't be more proud of her," said head coach Lindsey Ortiz. "As one of our veterans, she's naturally a leader. Her performance at the plate really showed that this week and built a lot of momentum for us heading into our final games of the regular season."

The Port Lavaca native delivered 13 RBIs and hit .438 in 16 at-bats as the Jaguars went 5-1 last week.

Her six RBIs in a 7-5 win over Texas College was a career-high for the junior first baseman. She notched her first career grand slam for her second home run of the year in the win.

Blinka's three RBIs in Game 1 against Xavier (La.) on Saturday moved her season total to 37, which ranks second in the RRAC. With a walk in Game 2 against Xavier, she extended her on-base streak to 11 games.

"It means a lot to receive this recognition," Blinka said. "It was a big week for our team, especially so close to our conference tournament. Going 5-1 is a big momentum boost. It's awesome how much we've grown as a team. I'm excited to see what these next few weeks will hold."

The Jaguars (22-15, 16-8) host Texas A&M-San Antonio in a doubleheader at 2 p.m. Tuesday followed by a 12 p.m. doubleheader Saturday against University of the Southwest to close the regular season.