BATON ROUGE — After leading the team with a .583 batting average last week, sophomore Vanessa Soto was named the Southeastern Conference Player of the Week, as announced by the league office late Monday night.
The San Diego, Calif., native was 7-for-12 on the week, while recording a .636 (7-for-11) mark over the weekend as the Tigers swept the Norman Residence Inn Invitational. She recorded hits in four of LSU’s five games on the week and has posted a hit in 11 of the Tigers’ last 12 games.
In LSU’s come-from-behind win over No. 10 Oklahoma on March 5, Soto knocked in the game-tying RBI in the bottom of the sixth inning as the Tigers completed a comeback from a 4-1 deficit before winning, 6-5 in eight innings. She finished the game at 2-for-4 from the plate.
In the first meeting with the nationally ranked Sooners, the second baseman was a perfect 2-for-2 from the plate as the Tigers won, 2-1. She also 3-for-5 in a pair of wins over Troy with an RBI and a run scored.
For the season, Soto leads the team with a .483 batting average. She also leads the team with nine doubles, while recording three home runs and a team-best 26 RBIs. In the field, she is a perfect 44-for-44 without an error.
This is the first SEC Player of the Week honor for Soto in her career and the second conference honor for the Tigers this season. Dani Hofer was named the Freshman of the Week earlier in the year.
LSU opens SEC play this weekend on the road. The Tigers will face Ole Miss in a three-game series, beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday at 3 p.m. The series concludes with a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m.