DENVER – Grand Canyon’s Chad De La Guerra and Texas-Pan American’s Ryan Jackson have been named Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for Feb. 9-15.
De La Guerra, a senior infielder from Santa Maria, Calif. (Pioneer Valley HS), hit safely in all three games as the Lopes opened up 2015 with three wins at home. His biggest game came in Sunday’s 30-7 win over Bradley as De La Guerra went 5-for-6 with five runs scored and nine RBIs. On the weekend, he was 7-of-13 (.538) with three home runs, seven runs scored and 12 RBIs.
Jackson, a freshman right handed pitcher from McAllen, Texas (Nikki Rowe HS), made the most of his collegiate debut, retiring the first seven hitters he faced en route to a win over Tennessee-Martin. He struck out eight in eight innings pitched, allowing just one run on five hits. Unfortunately, the one run was enough to hand him the loss, spoiling an outstanding collegiate debut.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees: Texas-Pan American’s Victor Garcia Jr. hit a game-tying grand slam to power a seven-run eighth inning in a comeback win over Tennessee-Martin on Saturday...North Dakota’s Jeff Campbell hit his first home run of the season and the 22nd of his career in a loss on Saturday at Arkansas…Seattle U’s Sheldon Stober opened his Redhawk career with a hit in each of four games against Saint Mary’s…Sacramento State’s Scotty Burcham led the team in runs and RBIs through the first three games of a four-game series with Utah.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees: Grand Canyon’s Coley Bruns struck out four in six innings pitched in a win over Omaha…Sacramento State’s Sam Long pitched five scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out two in a win over Utah…Seattle U’s Will Dennis earned the win against Saint Mary’s, allowing one run on seven hits with five strikeouts in six innings pitched…New Mexico State’s Riley Barr allowed three hits in five innings pitched against Illinois.