DENVER - CSU Bakersfield's Ryan Grotjohn and NM State's Marcel Renteria have been named Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for May 9 - May 15.
Grotjohn, a junior shortstop from Scottsdale, Ariz. (Brophy College Prep), hit safely in all four games as the Roadrunners went 4-0 on the week. In a win at 18th-ranked UC Santa Barbara, Ryan was 3-for-5 with two RBIs. He followed that up with a 5-for-8 series against Chicago State, finishing with six runs scored and three RBIs, including a double in each game. Hitting .615 on the week, he also posted an .846 slugging percentage and .688 on-base percentage.
Renteria, a junior righthander from Nogales, Ariz. (Nogales HS/Pima CC), struck out a career-high 12 batters over seven innings of a 6-0 win at North Dakota. Scattering three hits, he walked just two and did not allow a run to give the Aggies the series-opening win against the Fighting Hawks. The win was his fifth of the season as NM State has now won five straight and eight of their last 10 games.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees: Grand Canyon outfielder Garrison Schwartz was 6-for-11 from the plate in a three-game series with Sacramento State … NM State shortstop LJ Hatch hit a pair of home runs in the Aggies' series sweep at North Dakota … Sacramento State outfielder Chris Lewis drove in at least one run in each game of the Grand Canyon series … Seattle U outfielder Dalton Hurd hit a three-run home run to lead the Redhawks to a win over Washington State … UT Rio Grande Valley catcher Jose Garcia was 10-for-17 from the plate as the Vaqueros dropped two of three at Utah Valley … Utah Valley third baseman Jordan Schlehuber hit .500 on the week, going 8-for-16.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees: CSU Bakersfield's Chance Gusbeth earned the save at No. 18 UC Santa Barbara and then earned the win on Friday night against Chicago State … Grand Canyon's Gabe Benavides stuck out three over three innings in an 8-3 loss to Sacramento State … Sacramento State's Max Karnos threw seven shutout innings in a 4-1 win at Grand Canyon … Seattle U's Janson Junk tied the program record with 13 strikeouts over six innings to earn the win against Northern Colordo … UT Rio Grande Valley's Parker Gallegos struck out a career-high seven in his first start of the season … Utah Valley's Kyle Valgardson threw 4.1 innings of scoreless relief in his final home appearance.