St. LOUIS – Missouri State softball players Alex Boze and Steffany Dickerson were named Missouri Valley Conference Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, the league announced Tuesday. The award is the first for each in their MSU careers.

Boze owned a .556 (5-for-9) batting average as she helped propel the Bears to three wins over Wichita State, SEMO and Iowa. The senior catcher led the Bears with seven RBI, 15 total bases, a 1.667 slugging percentage, three home runs and four extra-base hits. She also tied for the team lead with three runs scored, while drawing two walks and committing no errors behind the plate.

On Wednesday against the Shockers, the Swansea, Ill., native blasted three home runs, with her final one serving as the game-winner and recorded five RBI. Her three home runs in a single game marked the first three-homer game by a Bear on record, tied the MVC record and broke the Killian Stadium record. Boze's five RBI were the most by a Bear since 2016.

Against SEMO on Sunday, she went 1-for-3 and recorded her sixth RBI of the week while also drawing a walk. In the final game of the week against Iowa, Boze batted in her seventh run of the week in a tight game with the Hawkeyes. Boze continues to lead the MVC in batting average (.471), slugging percentage (1.118), on-base percentage (.591), OPS (1.709) and home runs (6).

Dickerson went 3-0 in the circle last week, pitching a team-high 15.2 innings with 15 strikeouts. On Wednesday against Wichita State, the senior threw 6.2 innings as she earned her fourth victory of the year. She struck out six Shockers in a high-scoring affair at Killian Stadium.
In game one on Sunday against SEMO, Dickerson came on in relief to pitch 2.0 innings and earn the win. In her two innings, she allowed just two hits while giving up zero runs and striking out two Redhawks as the Bears logged yet another come-from-behind victory.

In game two on Sunday against Iowa, the Oklahoma City native tossed a complete game, allowing just three earned runs on five hits while striking out seven Hawkeyes. Dickerson kept the Bears in the close game, which was tied 3-3 after six innings. In the top of the seventh inning, Dickerson helped her own cause with a leadoff double to ultimately led to the walk-off victory for the Bears.

Missouri State begins conference play Wednesday afternoon with a noon doubleheader against Southern Illinois at Killian Stadium.