BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Freshman Alexia Castro started all five games at shortstop during the LIU softball team's season-opening trip to Florida.

And all Castro did to begin her collegiate career was hit .357 (5-for-14) and lead the Sharks with two doubles, one homer and four RBIs.

On Tuesday, Castro — a Bakersfield, Calif., native — was recognized for that stellar debut weekend as the first NEC Rookie of the Week of the 2023 season.

This season, Castro has succeeded the graduated Kiana Cisneros at shortstop. Cisneros earned second-team All-NEC honors in 2022.

"She played with poise defensively and gave us quality at-bats," coach Roy Kortmann said about Castro's opening weekend. "I'm looking forward to watching her continued development."

Also on Tuesday, teammates Maya Avila and Kira Buckner joined Castro as NEC Prime Performers.

Avila hit a team-leading .400 (6-for-15) with a team-leading two doubles and an RBI during the season-opening FGCU Kickoff Classic this past weekend.

Buckner took a perfect-game bid into the fifth inning and recorded her first career shutout in a 4-0 win against Binghamton on Saturday.

Next up, the Sharks again head south, this time for the Georgia Southern-hosted Bash in the Boro.

LIU has two games apiece against Radford and Georgia Southern and a single game against Bryant during its weekend trip to Statesboro, Ga.