DENVER - Grand Canyon's Chad De La Guerra and Bakersfield's Garrett Nimmo have been named Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for Apr. 27 - May 3.
De La Guerra, a senior infielder from Santa Maria, Calif (Pioneer Valley HS), led the Lopes to a 4-1 week, including a two-game sweep at nationally-ranked Texas Tech. He was 11-for-23 on the week for a .478 average, knocking three home runs and driving home nine RBIs on the busy week. His biggest game came in Sunday's series-finale with Seattle U, going 4-for-6 with five RBIs and two runs scored as GCU won in 13 innings.
Nimmo, a sophomore right-hander from Temecula, Calif. (Temecula Valley HS), pitched eight innings on the week but came out of those games with two wins and a save to help Bakersfield to a non-conference win over Cal Poly and a series win over Northern Colorado. Against Cal Poly, he came in early in relief and struck out nine batters over seven innings to earn the win. He didn't allow a hit the rest of the week, pitching two-thirds of an inning in a 6-5 win on Saturday to earn the save and then earning the win after just one-third inning pitched in Sunday's 7-6 walkoff win.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees: Sacramento State's Scotty Burcham was 11-for-26 in the Hornets' tour of the Midwest, performing well in games at Iowa, Notre Dame and Chicago State…Bakersfield's Max Carter hit .429 on the week as the Roadrunners went 3-1, including taking a pivotal series from Seattle U…Northern Colorado's Cole Maltese hit .500 as the Bears dropped two of three one-run games at Bakersfield…Utah Valley's Craig Brinkerhoff had multiple hits in each of UVU's WAC games against New Mexico State, hitting .529 on the week…North Dakota's Dalton Parrott collected hits in all four games last week as UND took two of three from Texas-Pan American...Seattle U's Brian Olson hit .500 on the week as Seattle U dropped two of three in a competitive series at Grand Canyon.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees: Sacramento State's Ty Nichols pitched six innings of no-hit baseball in relief during the Hornets' 18-inning marathon at Iowa before earning the win in seven innings at Chicago State on Sunday…Grand Canyon's Zebastian Valenzuela earned the start against Texas Tech, striking out eight over five innings before taking the no-decision…Utah Valley's Kyle Valgardson came out of the bullpen twice against New Mexico State, earning a save in Friday's 6-5 win and the win in Sunday's 10-8 win…Texas-Pan American's Ryan Jackson allowed just three hits in three appearances as the Broncs went 3-2 on the week, including a doubleheader sweep at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi… North Dakota's Zach Muckenhirn struck out six over 7.1 scoreless innings to earn the win in a 2-0 decision against UTPA...Seattle U's Skyler Genger pitched a gem at Grand Canyon, striking out eight over 7.1 innings to earn the win in a 3-2 decession.