May. 2, 2005

Sophomore outfielder Jessica Hejna was named the Big West Conference Player of the Week for the week ending May 1, 2005, it was announced Monday.

In the series opener against the Matadors, Hejna went 2-for-5 with a walk and two runs scored. She scored the tying run in the seventh inning to send the game into extra innings as the Gauchos rallied from a three-run deficit, and then hit the game-winning single in the bottom of the tenth, giving UCSB the 7-6 victory.

In game two, the Orange, Calif. native finished 2-for-3 and scored two of the Gauchos three runs, in a 3-1 win.

Hejna had a monster game in the finale, going 3-for-3 with a walk, two runs and three RBI. She hit a double in the first inning, a single in the second, tallied an RBI walk in the third and hit a game-ending two run homer in the fifth, as the run rule came into effect and the Gauchos completed the three-game sweep of Northridge with a 9-0 victory.

No. 3 leads the squad with a .429 batting average, an on base percentage of .491 and 13 RBI in Big West Conference games.

This is Hejna's first career Big West Player of the Week award.