DENVER - Utah Valley's David Modler and UT Rio Grande Valley's Carter Johnson have been named Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for March 5 - March 11.
Modler, a senior infielder from Las Vegas, Nev. (Rancho HS), had an .818 slugging percentage as the Wolverines were competitive in SEC country, going 1-2 at Mississippi State. In the opening game against the Bulldogs, he was 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and a run scored and also laid down a sacrifice bunt in the top of the 11th to move the eventual winning run into scoring position. He followed that up with another double in the nightcap and a 2-for-3 performance with a double and two runs scored in Sunday's series finale.
Johnson, a redshirt senior right-hander from Encinitas, Calif. (La Costa Canyon HS), left the game with a 3-0 lead and no hits allowed over seven innings on Friday night against Maine. He struck out 10 and walked just one of the 23 batters he faced before settling for the no-decision in the eventual 4-3 win over the Black Bears. On the season, he holds a 2.16 ERA with 29 strikeouts and just nine walks in 25.0 innings pitched.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees: CSU Bakersfield's Andrew Penner was 2-for-4 in the ‘Runners win over UNLV and finished the week 6-for-16 from the plate … Grand Canyon's Pikai Winchester had the top batting average in the WAC on the week, going 6-for-11 with four RBIs in a three-game sweep over Penn State … Sacramento State's James Outman had a pair of home runs in a brief road trip to Santa Clara and finished the week 6-for-14 from the plate … UT Rio Grande Valley's Austin Siener was 6-for-15 on the week as the Vaqueros earned a series win over Maine …
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees: CSU Bakersfield's Alec Dailey earned the win on Tuesday night with five strikeouts over three innings against UNLV … Chicago State's Zach Thomas struck out six on the road at Windy City rival UIC … Grand Canyon's Jake Wong struck out 10 and allowed just four hits over six scoreless innings to earn the win on Thursday against Penn State … NM State's Justin Dehn allowed four hits over 7.2 innings to earn the win at Alabama … Sacramento State's Parker Brahms had 12 strikeouts and just one walk before leaving the game against Santa Clara … Seattle U's Jake Prizina earned the win against Albany, striking out eight and allowing just one run on three hits over six innings … Utah Valley's Drew Hill earned his third save of the season in an extra-inning win at Mississippi State.