DENVER – Northern Colorado’s Brandon Vaughn and Grand Canyon’s Coley Bruns have been named Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for Mar. 16 – Mar. 22.
Vaughn, a senior infielder from Louisville, Colo., had an outstanding week for the Bears, picking up multi-hit games in all four wins. He went 8-for-18 on the week with 11 RBIs, five runs scored, three home runs and a double. His best game came in the WAC-opener with Chicago State, going 2-for-5 with five RBIs and two runs scored in a 9-8 win.
Bruns, a senior right-hander from Phoenix, pitched a gem in a 13-3 win over North Dakota on Friday night. He struck out 11 while allowing just three runs on seven hits to earn his third win of the season. The 11 strikeouts represent a new career-high for the veteran.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees: Grand Canyon’s Brandon Smith drove in eight RBIs on the week as the Lopes snapped a five-game losing streak with a sweep of North Dakota…Utah Valley’s Jake Atkinson hit the game-tying RBI single in the ninth inning of Friday’s game and the go-ahead home run in the seventh inning of Saturday’s win…Seattle U’s Brock Carpenter helped Seattle U take two of three games from Utah Valley, going 5-for-10 with four runs scored…Sacramento State’s Scotty Burcham reached base in more than half of his at-bats, scoring in each game as the Hornets went 3-1 on the week…Texas-Pan American’s Logan Landon hit .400 on the week in series at top-ranked TCU and Sacramento State…North Dakota’s Tyler Follis was 7-for-13 from the plate as UND was swept by Grand Canyon in Phoenix.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees: Utah Valley’s Jackson Cofer allowed just one run over five innings in Saturday’s win at Seattle U…Seattle U’s Tarik Skubal pitched six shutout innings to earn his first collegiate win in Sunday’s 7-1 win over Utah Valley..Sacramento State’s Justin Dillon made a pair of appearances for the Hornets, allowing just seven hits, all singles, over nine innings pitched…Texas-Pan American’s Blake English threw his second-straight complete game in a pitchers dual at Sacramento State before taking the loss in a 4-2 decision…Northern Colorado’s Nick Tanner allowed just one unearned run over 7.1 innings against Regis and Chicago State.