DENVER - Northern Colorado's Dean Lawson and CSU Bakersfield's AJ Monarrez have been named Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for May 2-8.
Lawson, a sophomore infielder from Fort Collins, Colo. (Rocky Mountain HS), was the catalyst for the UNC offense that hit .346 as a team in a sweep of preseason favorite Grand Canyon. Recording multiple hits in all three games, he was 9-for-13 on the weekend for a .692 batting average and a .846 slugging percentage. He drove in the game-tying run and was the game-winning run in the Bears' 10-run comeback on Saturday and either scored or drove in five of UNC's six runs on Sunday. His best game came on Saturday, going 5-for-6 from the plate, the Bears' first five-hit day in three years.
Monarrez, a senior righthander from Lancaster, Calif. (Desert Christian HS), threw a complete game shutout in the Roadrunners' series-clinching win at UT Rio Grande Valley. He tied his career high with nine strikeouts while only walking two Vaquero hitters. He gave up just three hits on the game, including two in the first four batters he faced. From there, only two Vaqueros reached base as he needed just 125 pitches, including 78 for strikes, to earn CSUB's first shutout of the season.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees: CSU Bakersfield catcher Jake Ortega was 4-for-7 in two games played at UTRGV … Chicago State's Chris Hipchen hit .583 on the week and was 3-for-3 in Sunday's series-clinching win over North Dakota … NM State outfielder Austin Botello was 7-for-16 on the week, including 3-for-4 on Saturday against Seattle U … North Dakota outfielder Miles Lewis hit for the cycle in Friday's 18-4 win at Chicago State … Sacramento State designated hitter Matt Smith had hits in each of the Hornets' games this week, including a 3-for-4 afternoon in Friday's win over Utah Valley … UT Rio Grande Valley outfielder Cole Loncar scored twice in Friday's win over CSU Bakersfield … Utah Valley catcher Zac Willis singled and scored the game-tying run at rival Brigham Young for force extra innings before hitting the go-ahead home run in the 11th inning of the upset win.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees: Chicago State's Justin Wyant struck out eight as part of a complete game win on Saturday against North Dakota … North Dakota's Zach Muckenhirn struck out 10 over eight innings to earn the win at Chicago State … Northern Colorado's Nick Tanner won his third straight game, striking out eight Grand Canyon batters in a 6-2 victory … Sacramento State's Max Karnos faced just one batter over the minimum in a complete-game shutout against Utah Valley … UT Rio Grande Valley's Ryan Jackson earned both his first career complete game and first career shutout in Friday's 5-0 win over CSU Bakersfield … Utah Valley's Danny Beddes carried a no-hitting through six innings of a 5-0 win at Sacramento State.