DENVER – New Mexico State designated hitter/catcher Ben Harty and Hawai‘i pitcher Josh Slaats have been named the Verizon Wireless Western Athletic Conference Baseball Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for March 15-22.
Harty, a senior from Bellevue, Wash. (Newport HS), hit .500 (7-for-14) to lead New Mexico State to a 2-1 road record against UC Santa Barbara. Harty hit a team-high three home runs and slugged 1.214 as the Aggies scored 33 runs in three games. In game two of the series, Harty led the Aggies to a come-from-behind 12-7 win after going 3-for-5 with two home runs, three runs scored and three RBI. Harty now leads the team with a .444 batting average and leads the WAC with 11 home runs this season.
Slaats, a junior from San Ramon, Calif. (California HS), went 1-0 last week with a victory over Air Force. Slaats recorded a career-high 10 strikeouts in just 5.1 innings of work. The junior combined for the shutout, allowing only three hits and a walk. Slaats is now 2-0 with a 0.40 ERA in 22.2 innings pitched, striking out 26 with just six walks and one earned run for the season.
The other hitter of the week nominations: Fresno State junior Jordan Ribera … Hawai‘i junior Greg Garcia … Louisiana Tech senior Devon Dageford … Sacramento State senior Josh Powers …
The other pitcher of the week nominations: Louisiana Tech senior Jamey Bradshaw … New Mexico State senior DJ Simon … Sacramento State junior Mike Guglielmo … San Jose State junior Blake McFarland.