DENVER - NM State's Caleb Henderson and UT Rio Grande Valley's Jorge Flores have been named Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for March 19 - March 25.
Henderson, a junior first-baseman from Conifer, Colo. (Conifer HS/Central Arizona CC), had the big bat for the Aggies in a WAC-opening series win over Seattle U. On Friday night, he hit the go-ahead three-run home run to left field to lead the Aggies to the 12-6 win over SU. He again helped lead the Aggies to victory on Sunday, hitting a two-run home run in the third inning and a three-run home run in the fourth inning as NM State earned the 12-2 win in seven innings. On the week, Henderson was 6-for-12 from the plate with 11 RBIs and a 1.250 slugging percentage.
Flores, a redshirt senior right-hander from Hidalgo, Texas (PSJA HS/Louisiana Tech), put together a strong outing on Saturday to give the Vaqueros the series-tying win over CSU Bakersfield. In eight scoreless innings, he allowed six hits with six strikeouts and two walks to earn the win. He faced the minimum three batters in five of eight innings, including three perfect innings, and he managed 66 of his 103 pitches for strikes. His 2.78 ERA this season ranks him third in the WAC this season.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees: CSU Bakersfield's Jared Toothman went 4-for-4 on Friday night in the ‘Runners win over UTRGV … Grand Canyon's Zach Malis had four RBIs on Saturday in a 13-5 win over visiting Chicago State … Sacramento State's Steven Moretto hit his fourth home run of the season in a 7-6 loss to Utah on Saturday evening … Seattle U's Dalton Hurd was 6-for-11 with a triple and a home run in three games at NM State … UT Rio Grande Valley's Coleman Grubbs hit his first career home run in the eighth inning on Sunday to lead the Vaqueros to the 6-5 win over CSU Bakersfield … Utah Valley's Trevor Peterson hit a grand slam in the series-clinching win against Northern Colorado on Saturday night.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees: CSU Bakersfield's Alec Dailey pitched seven no-hit innings to earn the 8-5 win over UTRGV on Friday night … Grand Canyon's Coen Wynne retired 15 of the 17 batters he faced in relief, striking out four and walking one with just one hit allowed over five innings of work against Kansas and Chicago State … NM State's Jonathan Groff earned the win on Sunday against Seattle U, striking out three and walking just one over seven innings pitched … Sacramento State's Alex Dentoni earned the win with three innings of relief at Utah on Friday night.