Feb. 13, 2012
BERKELEY - Not only did Arioto hit a homer in her very first at-bat of her redshirt senior season, but she went on to hit three homers, drive in a team-high nine RBI, slug 1.444, hit .444 and put up a 0.00 ERA in seven innings of work, making her this week's California Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week.
Thanks to Arioto's softball prowess, the team notched a 13-5 season-starting win over No. 9 Tennessee in what was the biggest lid lifter in recent history and finished the weekend at 4-0.
After not pitching since June 2010, Valerie Arioto pitched a complete-game shutout over Bradley. Arioto limited the Braves to just a .091 batting average with two hits. She struck out a weekend-high 11 opposing batters and only allowed three walks.
In the first game of the year, against No. 9 Tennessee, Arioto homered in her very first at-bat to give the Bears an early 1-0 lead. Later in that same game, Arioto cleared two fences with her second homer of the game and season. The Bears went on to win that game - their biggest opening day in recent history no less - 13-5 over Tennessee.
Against Texas State, Arioto hit the ball so hard that it went over three fences and landed on an adjacent practice field, driving in three runs. Later in that same game, Arioto drove in her ninth RBI of the weekend with a sac fly.
2011-12 California Muscle Milk Student-Athletes of the Week
