DENVER -NM State's Daniel Johnson and North Dakota's Zach Muckenhirn have been named Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for Feb. 15 - Feb. 21.
Johnson, a junior outfielder from Vallejo, Calif. (Jesse Bethell HS), hit .600 on the week as the Aggies opened up the season 3-0 with a sweep over visiting Towson. His best game came in the middle game of the series, going 3-for-3 with two home runs, three runs scored and five RBIs. Through the first weekend of the season, he leads the conference in batting average, slugging percentage (1.400), on base percentage (.688), runs scored (6), RBIs (8) and home runs (2).
Muckenhirn, a junior from Delano, Minn. (Delano HS), pitched a gem to open the 2016 season, holding nationally-ranked Southern California to just three hits, retiring the last 15 batters in order, in a complete game shutout. He struck out nine and walked just one as the Fighting Hawks upset the Trojans, 1-0.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees: CSU Bakersfield catcher Cody White hit .455 on the week with three doubles as the Roadrunners took two of three from CSUN in an away-home-away series … Chicago State's Andy Gertonson led the Cougars with a .571 batting average in a three-game series at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi … Grand Canyon outfielder Brandon Smith went 8-for-14 with two doubles, a home run and five RBIs as the Lopes split the series with Gonzaga … North Dakota catcher Brett Harrison extended his hitting streak to 14 game as UND took two of three from nationally-ranked Southern California … Northern Colorado infielder Tyler Yamaguchi hit three doubles in a loss at Wichita State on Saturday, the first UNC player to notch three doubles in a game since 2012 … Sacramento State designated hitter Matt Smith scored the winning run in both of the Hornets' wins at Auburn, hitting .545 in three games against the Tigers … Utah Valley outfielder Mark Krueger earned a hit in each of the Wolverines' four games, scoring twice in Saturday's win over nationally-ranked Oregon State.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees: Chicago State's Jake Perkins recorded a career-high eight strikeouts and held Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to just one unearned run on three hits to earn the 7-1 win … Grand Canyon's Jake Repavich tossed seven scoreless innings, striking out four, in Saturday's 3-0 win over Gonzaga … NM State's Kyle Bradish didn't allow an earned run in six innings of work during Friday night's 8-5 win over Towson … Sacramento State's Tyler Beardsley pitched the eighth and ninth innings on just 11 pitches for the save on Saturday and returned to throw three inning in Sunday's extra inning win at Auburn … Seattle U's Tarik Skubal set a new school record with 13 strikeouts, allowing just three hits over seven innings, in Sunday's 4-1 win at Saint Mary's … UT Rio Grande Valley's Ryan Jackson struck out six Abilene Christian batters over seven innings, allowing just one earned run in a 7-3 loss … Utah Valley's Danny Beddes allowed just one unearned run and struck out five in Friday's season-opening win over Ball State.