Mauga Earns Third MVP Honors with First Athletes Unlimited Homer

CHICAGO – Katiyana Mauga earned third MVP honors in a 5-0 victory for Team Warren on Monday night to climb into ninth place on the overall points leaderboard. Her squad went undefeated in the first week of the Athletes Unlimited softball season, outscoring opponents, 26-5.

Mauga, who served as Mississippi State's volunteer assistant coach this spring, drove in five runs in three games, which was tied for third-most in the league. She was also one of eight batters to hit .500 or better.

MSU's graduate assistant Nicole Pendley is also playing in the league and was one of the first four captains after finishing with the third-most point through the preseason scrimmages.

Mauga started at first base for Team Warren in an 11-3 Opening Day victory, driving in a pair of runs with a pair of singles. She led off the bottom of the fourth with a hard-hit single up the middle past former Arizona teammate Danielle O'Toole.

In the next frame, she broke the game wide open, plating a pair with a liner past the third baseman with the bases loaded to give Team Warren a 4-0 lead. That sparked a rally that turned a 1-0 ballgame at the start of the fifth, into an 11-0 game by the time the third out was recorded.

Pendley put herself in the seven-hole patrolling centerfield in the Opening Day lineup. Her team jumped out to an early 2-0 lead and claimed 10 points for winning the first inning. However, Pendley would go 0-for-3 with a strikeout as her squad fell to Team Wagner, 18-4.

On Sunday, Pendley again started in centerfield, but couldn't get it going at the plate. Meanwhile Team Warren cruised to a 10-2 victory. Mauga came on to pinch hit in the bottom of the fifth with her team leading 7-1. She grounded a ball through the infield for her third RBI of the weekend and earned her team an additional 10 points for winning the inning.

Mauga, who ended her collegiate career as the NCAA's all-time leader in home runs, capped her week with a two-run blast to left field in the top of the sixth on Monday night. The swing earned her 50 points, 40 for the home run along with an additional 10 for her team winning the inning. The third MVP honors that followed accounted for an extra 20 points.

Athletes Unlimited does not feature traditional teams. Instead, 56 athletes – 17 of whom played in the SEC –are drafted to one of four new teams each week. Following the final game of each week, the top four scoring athletes are named captains for the next week's draft.

Cat Osterman, Samantha Show, Victoria Hayward and Aleshia Ocasio will serve as captains for Week 2 and draft a new set of teams on Tuesday night at 5 p.m. CT. The second week of games will be broadcast on ESPN3 and CBS Sports Network.

For more information on the Bulldog softball program, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateSB."

Katiyana Mauga's Game-by-Game Stats

W, 11-3 vs. Team Fagan (Purple) – 2-for-3, 2 RBI, 7 PO, 130 total points
W, 10-2 vs. Team Pendley (Blue) – 1-for-2, RBI, 2 PO, 120 total points
W, 5-0 vs. Team Wagner (Yellow) – 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 5 PO, 3^rd MVP, 180 total points
TOTAL – 3 GP, 2 GS, 4-for-8 (.500), 1 R, 1 HR, 7 TB, 5 RBI, .500 OBP, .875 SLG, 14 PO, 13.0 INN, 430 total points (No. 9)

Nicole Pendley's Game-by-Game Stats

L, 4-18 vs. Team Wagner (Yellow) – 0-for-3, K, 1 PO, 10 total points
L, 2-10 vs. Team Warren (Orange) – 0-for-4, K, 10 total points
L, 5-7 vs. Team Fagan (Purple) – 0-for-4, K, 3 PO, 1 E, 20 total points
TOTAL – 3 GP, 3 GS, 0-for-11 (.000), 3 K, 4 PO, 1 E, 21.0 INN, 40 total points (No. 53)

Mississippi State University Athletics

Mauga Earns Third MVP Honors with First Athletes Unlimited Homer

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