DENVER - Northern Colorado's Jack Pauley and Seattle U's Zach Wolf have been named Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for March 12 - March 18.
Pauley, a redshirt junior outfielder from Overland Park, Kan. (Saint Thomas Aquinas HS/Western Nebraska CC), played a big part in the Bears' 4-2 week. On Tuesday, he was 3-for-5 with a run scored in a 6-3 win at Nebraska. In a four-game series at UC Davis, he was 8-for-12 with four walks and six runs scored as Northern Colorado took three out of four from the Aggies. His .410 season batting average is a WAC-best and his 34 hits tie him for the top spot in the conference statistics.
Wolf, a junior right-hander from Dana Hills, Calif. (Dana Hills HS), picked up a trio of saves as the Redhawks went 3-0 against Pacific Northwest opponents. At Portland, he struck out two over 1.1 no-hit innings to earn his first save of the week. He followed that up at home against Gonzaga with just one hit over one inning with a strikeout to earn his second save in as many days. He wrapped up the week win an inning of work against British Columbia, striking out three for his third save of the week. He now has six saves on the season, good enough for second in the WAC statistical standings.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees: CSU Bakersfield's Ryan Koch led the team with a .923 slugging percentage as the ‘Runners took three-of-four from Dartmouth … Grand Canyon's Quin Cotton set career-highs with four hits and four RBIs in a 9-8 extra-inning loss at UC Riverside … NM State's Tristen Carranza hit .500 on the week in a four-game sweep over Maine … Seattle U's Austin Lively extended his reached base streak to 16 games as he helped the Redhawks go 3-0 on the week … UT Rio Grande Valley's Tyler Torres scored the game-winning run in the 13th inning on Saturday against Eastern Michigan … Utah Valley's Pacen Hayes had two home runs as the Wolverines won the series at UC Irvine.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees: CSU Bakersfield's Elijah Parks earned the win with 5.2 innings of relief in a 9-4 win over Dartmouth … Grand Canyon's Ethan Evanko gave the Lopes quality innings from the bullpen, allowing just three hits over 4.2 innings against UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton … NM State's Chance Hroch earned the win out of the bullpen on Saturday against Maine, allowing one hit over 2.2 innings in a 10-6 win … Northern Colorado's Connor Leedholm earned three saves, including at Nebraska … UT Rio Grande Valley's Max Balderrama Jr. allowed just four hits with nine strikeouts over 4.1 innings of relief … Utah Valley's Jake Mayer struck out 10 but ended up with a no decision on Friday at UC Irvine.