With MeShalon Moore being named First Team All-Big West, four Gauchos were selected to the all-conference team, it was announced Wednesday.
Moore’s impressive power hitting garnered her first team status, while Kristen Clark and Shelby Wisdom were named to the second team. After a breakout sophomore season, Jacqueline Hinojosa was voted honorable mention.
After completing her second season as UCSB’s starting catcher, Moore emerged as one of the Big West’s top power hitters in ranking seventh in slugging percentage (.589) and fourth with 22 extra base hits, all while hitting for a solid .345 average. The junior also put her name in the school record book with career highs of 42 RBI and nine home runs, which respectively rank third and fifth in Gaucho single season lore. In conference play, Moore’s 22 RBI paced the league, while her five homers were the second-most.
Highlighting the Sacramento native’s season was her weekend at the Santa Clara Round Robin. Through the five-game tournament, Moore ripped three doubles, smacked a homer, and slugged for 1.182, which earned her a Big West Player of the Week nomination.
Second teamer Clark finished the season with a team-leading 69 hits and a .356 batting average. Both figures were among the best in program history, as her hits ranks third in the UCSB record book and her batting average is tenth. After just two seasons as a Gaucho, the outfielder sits just three base knocks shy of entering the program’s all-time top-10 in career hits. Clark stepped up her game during conference play, as she improved her batting average to .382 (sixth in the league) and tallied 29 hits (third in the league).
As UCSB’s primary lead off hitter, Clark recorded the longest hitting streak of any Gaucho this season at 11 games, while she recorded a hit in all but three games during conference play. One of her best outings came in UCSB’s 5-1 win in a rubber match at Hawaii. She went 4-4 in the game, as she also scored a team-high two runs.
In being named Second Team All-Big West, Shelby Wisdom has now earned All-Conference accolades in all four years of her Gaucho career. This season, an injury kept her from resuming her normal role as UCSB’s pitching ace, but she continued her production at the plate with a career-high .304 batting average. Her .608 slugging percentage ranked sixth in the conference, as she paced the UCSB roster with 10 home runs and 23 extra base hits. Behind those homer, Wisdom became just the fourth Gaucho to record at least 10 four-baggers in a single season.
Her remarkable hitting as a senior also put her in the top-10 in many of UCSB’s significant career offensive categories. Wisdom ended her run as a Gaucho ranking ninth all-time with 176 hits, sixth with 100 runs, fourth with 37 doubles, 10th with five triples, second with 30 home runs, and second with 127 RBI.
As a first time all-league honoree, Jacqueline Hinojosa had a breakout season in leading the Gauchos with her .367 batting average and .483 on-base percentage. That batting average not only ranked seventh in the conference, but it also stands as the sixth-best in UCSB history. Her OBP is the conference’s third-best, as she coupled her consistent hitting with 28 walks, the third-most among Big West players.
Through the course of the season, the sophomore reached base in all but five of the games she played in.
Hinojosa had one of her best conference series against the eventual league champion Cal State Northridge. In the three-game set with the Matadors, the outfielder led the Gauchos with a .385 batting average and a pair of runs.
For Clark, Moore and Hinojosa, this is the second time in the past week that they were named all-conference, as College Sports Madness announced its All-Big West team on Saturday.
