DENVER - CSU Bakersfield's David Metzgar and Utah Valley's Jake Mayer have been named Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for April 3 - April 9.
Metzgar, a senior infielder from Lancaster, Calif. (Paraclete HS), had a quartet of multi-hit games as the ‘Runners went 3-1 on the week. In CSUB's lone non-conference game, he was nearly unstoppable against perennial power UC Irvine, going 3-for-4 with five RBIs and two runs scored in a 14-2 win. The ‘Runners then headed to the Midwest for a WAC series at Chicago State and Metzgar was 7-for-13 in the series with a pair of doubles and three RBIs as the ‘Runners took two out of three from the Cougars. On the week, he posted a .588 batting average to go with a .632 slugging percentage and an .824 on-base percentage.
Mayer, a junior right-hander from Eagle Mountain, Utah (Westlake HS), pitched a gem in Friday afternoon's win over UIW, allowing just three hits to earn his first career shutout. It was UVU's first complete-game shutout by a single pitcher since 2014 as the junior struck out seven and walked just one, facing just three hitters over the minimum.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees: Chicago State's Cody Freund was 3-for-3 in the Cougars' win over CSU Bakersfield on Saturday … Grand Canyon's Garrison Schwartz had a pair of home runs on the week, including one at 15th-ranked Arkansas … NM State's Mason Fishback went 6-for-12 on the week as the Aggies remained perfect in WAC play with a three-game sweep of UTRGV … Northern Colorado's Tyler Yamaguchi was 5-for-9 as the Bears took a game from Seattle U in a WAC series in Greeley … Sacramento State's Ian Dawkins hit .429 on the week, including 5-for-12 against Grand Canyon … Seattle U's Austin Lively hit .500 on the week as the Redhawks took a conference series from Northern Colorado and a non-conference tilt from crosstown rival Washington … Utah Valley's Jackson Overlund hit .467 on the week as the Wolverines split non-conference games at UNLV and at home against UIW.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees: CSU Bakersfield's Max Carter threw a complete game shutout, striking out six and scattering six hits in a win at Chicago State … Chicago State's Zach Thomas threw a scoreless 1.2 innings on Saturday to earn the save against CSU Bakersfield … Grand Canyon's Mick Vorhof made three appearances on the week and didn't allow a hit in 3.1 innings … NM State's Marcel Renteria threw seven scoreless innings to earn the win on Friday against UTRGV … Sacramento State's Parker Brahms earned the Hornets' lone win of the week, allowing one run on four hits in a 7-1 win against Grand Canyon.