MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee junior Justine Cerda was named the Sun Belt Conference Player the Week on Monday after powering the Blue Raiders to two wins against rival Western Kentucky over the weekend in their final Sun Belt Conference regular series of the season.
Cerda batted .556 with a team-leading two homeruns and five RBI in the series. She led the team on the week in hits (five) homeruns (two), RBI (five) and defensive putouts (27).
"Justine has played very well over the last 10 games and she is starting to come on strong at the right time in the season. We expect big things from her and she had a huge homerun on Sunday," said Head Coach Sue Nevar.
The first baseman's week was highlighted by nailing what proved to be a game-winning three-run homerun in the 5th inning on Sunday to clinch the series against the Hilltoppers. She went 2-for-3 with a homerun, three RBI and a run scored in Middle Tennessee's 6-3 victory.
This is the third conference player of the week award for the Blue Raiders in the last five weeks after Corrie Abel and Martha Davis received the award on April 7th and April 22nd respectively.
Said Nevar, "Receiving these awards not only gives a confidence boost to the players but to us as a coaching staff. We have been working very hard as a team to try to improve all season and these awards go a long way to meeting that goal."
The Blue Raiders travel to Troy, Ala. for the opening round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament against the Florida International Golden Panthers at 12:30 PM Wednesday.
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