ST. LOUIS -- Missouri State softball was recognized Monday with a pair of Missouri Valley Conference weekly awards, the league announced.
 
Kyana Mason (Sr., 3B, Independence, Mo.) was named MVC Player of the Week, while Payton Minnis (Fr., 2B, Blue Springs, Mo.) earned MVC Newcomer of the Week laurels.
 
Mason, MSU's leadoff hitter, batted .688 and slugged 1.188 over five games last week and helped the Bears to a 5-0 week and championship at the UCA Adam Brown Memorial Shamrock Classic. She collected 11 hits, eight runs, seven RBI and a pair of home runs over the tournament while batting .786 (11-for-14) over the last four games of the event with multiple hits in each contest. Mason's two-run homer in the tournament finale against Central Arkansas tied the championship game, and later her two-run triple in the eighth helped win the title for Missouri State.
 
Mason is Missouri State's first MVC Player of the Week selection since Daphne Plummer earned the honor on April 30, 2018.
 
Minnis hit an incredible .727 over the weekend at UCA, going 8-for-11 at the plate with five RBI and a perfect 4-for-4 in stolen bases. She produced multiple hits over her last three games -- all starts -- including a 3-for-4 game against Coppin State with two runs, three RBI and a double. She later went 2-for-3 against SEMO with a pair of runs scored before helping send MSU to the title with a 2-for-3 day in the championship game. She had a run, two stolen bases and a sacrifice bunt vs. Central Arkansas to help lead the Bears to a comeback victory in the finals and a perfect 5-0 week.
 
The Bears earned MVC Newcomer of the Week honors twice last season -- Plummer on Feb. 19 and Madison Hunsaker on March 19.
 
Missouri State (13-7) will next play again until Wednesday, March 13 in the MVC opener at Southern Illinois. This Wednesday's scheduled home opener against Arkansas is postponed due to field conditions caused by the weekend's snow and freezing conditions.