DENVER - Grand Canyon's Preston Pavlica and Utah Valley's Patrick Wolfe have been named Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for March 1 - March 6.
Pavlica, a freshman outfielder from Las Vegas (Liberty HS), made the most of his first two career starts, recording seven RBIs on 5-of-8 hitting in a pair of wins over Omaha. His best game came in the series finale, going 3-for-4 with a double, four RBIs, a run scored and a stolen base as the Lopes won two in a row for just the second time this season.
Wolfe, a junior from Reno, Nev. (Damonte Ranch HS), threw five innings of no-hit relief in a pair of wins at Washington State. On Thursday, he tossed two innings with a pair of strikeouts in an 8-0 series-opening win. He returned to the bump on Saturday, throwing three innings of no-hit ball with three strikeouts and one walk as the Wolverines outlasted the Cougars, 10-9, in 11 innings. He has already set a new career high for strikeouts with 19 this season.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees: CSU Bakersfield outfielder Dustin Frailey hit .579 with hits in all five games … NM State's Dan Hetzel posted three multi-hit games for the Aggies … Northern Colorado's Cole Maltese was 6-for-14 in a rainy three game series at Pacific … Sacramento State outfielder Chris Lewis hit three extra base hits in a pair of games against South Dakota State … Seattle U first baseman Michael McCann set the table for the Redhawk offense, going 6-for-11 with four walks against Oakland … UT Rio Grande Valley infielder/outfielder Joseph Collazo scored a career-high four runs in Saturday's 7-3 win at Lamar … Utah Valley catcher Zac Willis hit .500 with three doubles as the Wolverines won 3 of 4 at Washington State.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees: Grand Canyon's Ethan Evanko picked up his first win of the season in Saturday's 9-4 win over Omaha … NM State's Andy Frakes made four appearances, posting a 1.80 ERA in games against Texas Tech and Stephen F. Austin … Northern Colorado's Nick Tanner allowed just one run on five hits with a pair of strikeouts in Sunday's 8-1 win at Pacific … Sacramento State's Sam Long tied his career high with seven strikeouts and did not issue a walk to get the win against South Dakota State … Seattle U's Ted Hammons struck out five and allowed just one unearned run on three hits over six innings in a 10-1 win over Oakland … UT Rio Grande Valley's Andrew Garcia tossed a complete game for the win on Saturday at Lamar.