Lopez, Heen earn All-Big West honors

Rainbow Wahine third baseman Nicole Lopez closed her junior season with a second straight selection to the Big West softball all-conference first team.

The Big West announced its postseason honors on Tuesday and the Rainbow Wahine (23-27, 7-14 BWC) were represented by Lopez on the first team and sophomore catcher Callee Heen on the second team.

Lopez and Heen were among three UH players to start all 50 games this season. Lopez hit .306 overall with eight home runs and drove in 26 runs. In Big West play, the Mid-Pacific graduate was second on the team at .273 and tied for the team lead with 11 RBIs. She struck out just 10 times in 167 plate appearances overall.

Heen led the Wahine overall at .333 and 37 RBIs. She ranked second in the Big West with a team-high 14 home runs and a .704 slugging percentage.

Cal State Northridge shortstop Savannah Horvath was named player of the year and Long Beach State’s Cielo Meza was named the Big West pitcher of the year. LBSU’s Kim Sowder and Cal State Fullerton’s Kelly Ford shared the coach of the year award. Cal State Fullerton won the conference title and LBSU earned an at-large berth into the NCAA tournament.