COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Utah State junior Grace Matej was named the Mountain West Softball Player of the Week. Nevada’s Hailey McLean was tabbed the MW Pitcher of the Week and rookie teammate Ainsley Berlingeri collected the MW Freshman of the Week nod.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

GRACE MATEJ, UTAH STATE

Junior, Catcher, Orangevale, California/Vista Del Lago HS

  • Led the Aggies to a 3-2 record to open the 2025 season with wins over Abilene Christian (9-3), then-No. 19 Baylor (6-4), Purdue (4-3) and two loses to then-No. 7 Texas A&M (11-5) and Villanova (7-4).
  • Tallied four runs, nine hits, five RBIs, a batting average of .500, slugging .611 and an on-base percentage of .526 in 18 at bats.
  • Recorded three hits and three RBIs against nationally ranked Baylor.
  • Defensively, contributed seven putouts.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK

HAILEY MCLEAN, NEVADA

Junior, Sparks, Nevada/Utah State

  • Started in all three games she appeared in and led the Wolf Pack to three wins against Lehigh (14-4, 5 innings), California Baptist (4-0) and at LMU (5-1).
  • The junior posted a 1.75 ERA, 15 strikeouts and allowed only five runs in 16 innings pitching.
  • Against Lehigh, posted seven strikeouts in four innings inside the circle in the five-inning game.
  • Against California Baptist, threw five scoreless innings.
  • At LMU, contributed seven strikeouts allowing just one earned run.

FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK

AINSLEY BERLINGERI, NEVADA

Pitcher, Carmarillo, California/Adolfo Camarillo HS

  • Assisted the Wolf Pack to a 4-1 week to open the 2025 season, going 1-1 in the circle with a win over Army (4-1) and a loss to then-No. 6 UCLA (8-0)
  • On the weekend tallied 14 strikeouts and a 0.95 ERA allowing only two runs.
  • In the circle against Army, logged 11 strikeouts in her collegiate debut. Pitched five scoreless innings allowing just one hit.
  • Against UCLA, came in as relief for 2.1 innings, striking out three Bruins and allowing only one unearned run.