ARLINGTON, Texas - Abilene Christian softball's senior third baseman
Miranda Lista was named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Week, the league announced Monday afternoon. It's the first Player of the Week honor for a Wildcat this season and the team's first weekly accolade since
Lina Russo's Pitcher of the Week recognition on March 17.
Lista crushed three home runs over the course of the week as ACU earned a series victory at Utah Valley. She boosted her team-high slugging percentage to .458 while giving her an ACU-best four home runs this year. Lista reached base in each of the team's four games with six runs batted in and four extra-base hits, raising her OPS to .801, the highest among qualifying Wildcats.
The Chino Hills, Calif. native started her week with a bang, blasting a pair of home runs for a season-high three RBI in a 7-3 loss to Texas Tech on Wednesday at Poly Wells Field. With her first career multi-home run game, Lista became the first Wildcat to go deep multiple times in a game since 2023, and she did so in front of 1,261 fans, good for the largest crowd in ACU's Division I history.
Lista drew a bases-loaded walk to plate a run in the Wildcats' 13-3 loss in the first leg of a doubleheader versus the Wolverines on Friday. She came to life in Game 2, belting a go-ahead two-run shot in the sixth inning that powered ACU to a 3-2 victory.
After totaling just two home runs in the past two seasons, Lista recorded three in the span of three games this week. Her long ball on Friday followed a bomb by
Elizabeth Schaefer in the first inning of Game 2, giving the Wildcats two multi-home run games in their last three contests. They had no such game through their first 36 matchups of the year.
Lista kept her foot on the gas in Saturday's rubber match, drawing a walk in a six-run third inning before coming around to score. She went on to collect her second double of the season in a 7-6 ACU win.
The Wildcats occupy fifth place in the WAC standings with a 7-8 mark and are off from conference play this week. They'll head to Waco, Texas for a doubleheader with Baylor this Saturday. First pitches from Getterman Stadium are set for 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
