DENVER - NM State's Joey Ortiz and Sacramento State's Parker Brahms have been named Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for Feb. 26 - March 4.
Ortiz, a sophomore shortstop from Garden Grove, Calif. (Pacific HS), totaled three home runs and 12 RBIs on the week. He started the week against Arizona, going 2-for-4 with two RBIs in a close 5-4 loss. Against Harvard, he was 5-for-14 from the plate, with three home runs, four walks, eight runs scored and 12 RBIs. Five of those RBIs came in the series finale, including a grand slam in the sixth inning. On the season, he leads the WAC with 24 runs scored and 12 walks and is among the leaders in several other categories.
Brahms, a sophomore right-hander from Calabasas, Calif. (Calabasas HS), made a pair of starts in a pair of Hornet wins. He was the starter on Tuesday in a 9-2 win over Pacific, striking out one in just one inning of work. On Saturday, he returned to the mound against Milwaukee, striking out seven and walking one over seven scoreless innings to earn his first win of the young season. In 21 innings pitched, he has 26 strikeouts, just 11 hits and has yet to allow a run.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees: CSU Bakersfield's Evan Berkey has led the ‘Runners to a series win at Portland, totaling five RBIs in the four-game series … Grand Canyon's Marc Mumper had multiple hits in three of four games for the Lopes, finishing the week 7-for-14 from the plate … Northern Colorado's Matt Burkart was 7-for-18 from the plate as the Bears went 3-2 on the week … Sacramento State's James Outman totaled five RBIs and three runs scored as the Hornets went 3-1 on the week … UT Rio Grande Valley's Elijah Alexander had a pair of doubles on Friday at Lamar and posted his first three-hit game on Saturday … Utah Valley's Jackson Overlund batted .412 with four doubles in the Wolverines' series at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees: CSU Bakersfield's Aaron Charles earned the win on Thursday at Portland, allowing one run over seven innings … Chicago State's Zach Thomas struck out three and allowed just one run over 6.2 innings in a 4-0 loss at Saint Louis … Grand Canyon's Mike Lundin struck out four and allowed just one run over five innings in a loss to CSUN on Saturday … NM State's Kyle Bradish opened up the weekend series against Harvard with 10 strikeouts and just four hits allowed over seven innings pitched … Northern Colorado's Connor Leedholm made three appearances on the week, earning a win and a save over 5.2 combined scoreless innings … UT Rio Grande Valley's Trevelle Hill struck out six in a loss to nationally-ranked Texas Tech and then earned the win in extra-innings at Lamar … Utah Valley's Jake Mayer matched his career-high with eight strikeouts for the second straight start.