CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Following another week of softball in the books, the Big South Conference announced weekly awards for Player of the Week honors where Junior, Mackenzei Bernal-Mahagan was named the Co-Player of the Week along with Darrah Nickens from Winthrop. 

The Junior from Odessa, Texas did not take long adjusting from the Lone Star State to the Palmetto, leading Upstate through four games at the Wings Etc. Classic with a .545 batting average, batting 6-for-11, adding four runs scored, two homeruns and slugging 1.091. Mackenzei Bernal-Mahagan was the boost Upstate needed at the DP position over the weekend having a 3-for-3 game against Youngstown State on Friday, February 13th and following with a leadoff hit in the bottom of the fifth that eventually led to two runs scored in the inning against the Penguins in a rematch on Saturday, February 14th. During the Wings Etc. Classic, Bernal-Mahagan only had one game where she batted under .400, where she batted .333 in the opening game against West Georgia. The following three games saw her at .667, .625, and .545. On the season, Mackenzei Bernal-Mahagan is second on the team with a .476 batting average while adding 10 hits, eight runs, one double, corralling a 13 RBI start through eight games, and second on the team with a.810 slugging percentage. Being a NFCA NJCAA D1 Second Team All-American, Mackenzei Bernal-Mahagan has quickly found her place with Upstate Softball swinging the long ball twice during her Division I career and adding her first weekly accolade. As the season progresses and her career grows, Mackenzei Bernal-Mahagan will look to continue her consistency with lots of potential for more success.