DENVER - CSU Bakersfield's Ryan Grotjohn and UT Rio Grande Valley's Zach Martinez have been named Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for March 13 - March 19.
Grotjohn, a senior infielder from Scottsdale, Ariz. (Brophy College Prep) had an outstanding weekend at the plate, tying or resetting two school records on Sunday afternoon. In the series finale at UC Riverside, he was a perfect 5-for-5 at the plate with three doubles and three RBIs, tying the CSUB record for most hits in a game and setting a new record for most doubles in a game. On the week, he was 10-for-15 for a .667 average, also posting a 1.000 slugging percentage with five doubles. He was 1-for-2 on stolen base attempts, scored four times and drove in five RBIs.
Martinez, a sophomore right-hander from Harlingen, Texas (Harlingen HS South), made three appearances in relief and earned two wins for the Vaqueros. Taking the mound for a total of 3.0 innings, he did not allow a hit, striking out three batters and walking just one. Both of his wins came against Buffalo, facing two batters on Saturday and striking out the only batter he faced on Sunday.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees: Chicago State's Matt Paciello had three multi-hit games for the Cougars last week ... Grand Canyon's Austin Bull had hits in four of five games for the Lopes, scoring four times ... Northern Colorado's Evan Johnson was 4-for-9 in a midweek series at Wichita State and is currently riding an 11-game hitting streak ... Sacramento State's Ian Dawkins hit .353 on the week with three runs scored ... UT Rio Grande Valley's Joseph Collazo was 11-for-28 on the week with four extra base hits and eight runs scored.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees: Grand Canyon's Jake Wong allowed two hits over seven scoreless innings but did not get the decision in an extra-inning loss at Pepperdine ... Sacramento State's Ty Fox did not allow a hit over four innings in three appearances ... Utah Valley's Jackson Cofer allowed just one run on four hits in 7.1 innings in a win at Creighton.