KANSAS CITY, Mo. – No. 19 Rogers State softball's Sara Llamas-Howell has been named the first MIAA Pitcher of the Week for the 2024 season, the league announced on Monday.
 
Llamas-Howell went 1-1 in four starts and five appearances with a 0.72 ERA to start the season at the D2 First Pitch Invitational. In 19.1 innings pitched, the senior from Pawnee, Okla. only allowed two earned runs with 19 strikeouts and two walks over five games. She earned her first win of the season in the 8-2 win over St. Mary's, scattering three hits with only one earned run and six strikeouts over a 4.0 inning start. Llamas-Howell also posted scoreless outings against Colorado Mesa and Midwestern State working 8.0 total innings without allowing a run with a combined seven strikeouts.
 
The Hillcats finished the first weekend of the season going 5-1 with wins against St. Mary's, Colorado Mesa, Midwestern State, Angelo State and Regis to open the 2024 season in Texas.
 
RSU will return to action on Friday, Feb. 9 as they travel to Oklahoma City, Okla. to take on Southern Nazarene in the first game of the Edmond Invitational. First pitch is set for 1:30 p.m.