Chelsea Troupe went 10 for 20 at the plate during the 2011 UTEP Invitational this past weekend at the Helen of Troy Softball Complex. (Image: Jeff Taylor)

EL PASO, Texas – UTEP’s Chelsea Troupe was named the Conference USA Softball Hitter of the Week the league announced Monday afternoon.

“We are very excited for Chelsea,” co-head coach Kathleen Rodriguez said. “This is always a great honor for Miner softball when we hear that Conference USA has given this award to one of our athletes. Conference USA is a strong softball conference with many great athletes competing for this award each week. James and I are extremely proud anytime our student-athletes gain recognition for their hard work, commitment and dedication,”

Troupe was the go-to player through the weekend, going 10-for-20 at the plate, as the Miners went 5-1 at the UTEP Invitational.

She tied for a team-high 10 hits including a team-leading three home runs and three doubles. Down by two in the Miners’ game against Texas State, Troupe’s RBI double in the bottom of the third helped lessen the deficit and pull UTEP closer to the eventual-win, 5-4, over the Bobcats Friday. The junior carried that momentum in the nightcap against North Dakota, putting the Miners’ up on a two-run double in the bottom of the first and later extending the lead to 6-1 on a solo home run in the third.

In Saturday’s game against North Dakota, Troupe knotted up the game on another solo home run in the fifth and scored again in the seventh as the Miners took the 6-5 win over the Fighting Sioux. The Oceanside, Calif., native lit up the scoreboard on Sunday in the top of the first with a two-run home run, her third of the weekend, as the Miners took a 15-7 win over Bradley.

Troupe recorded at least one hit in every game through the weekend en route to collecting her second Hitter of the Week honor of her career (Feb. 16, 2009).