BATON ROUGE--McNeese freshman Whitney Tate has been named the Louisiana Sports Writers Association Softball Pitcher of the Week, the LSWA announced Tuesday afternoon.
 
The award is based on nominations and voting by the state's college softball publicists, who are not permitted to vote for their own players. Athletes from four- and two-year colleges are eligible for the awards.  
 
Tate, the native of Columbia, La., led the No. 3 seed McNeese Cowgirls to the Southland Conference Tournament title with wins over Sam Houston, Central Arkansas, Stephen F. Austin to get to the title game before defeating Central Arkansas 1-0 in the championship game.
 
The tournament's MVP posted a 2-0 record with wins over Sam Houston and regular season champion and the tournament's No. 1 seed Stephen F. Austin then picked up the save in the win over No. 2 seed Central Arkansas in the championship game. She ended the tournament with a 1.50 ERA, allowing nine hits, three unearned runs, two walks and struck out six in 14 innings.