DENVER - Chicago State's Tyler Lowe and Sacramento State's Tanner Dalton have been named Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for April 23 - April 29.
Lowe, a junior infielder from Northville, Mich. (Northville HS/Elgin CC) led the Cougars to their second-straight WAC series win, hitting .600 on the week with a 1.100 slugging percentage. In the Cougars' two non-conference games, he was 3-for-4 against both Purdue and Bradley to warm up his bat for conference play. Against Northern Colorado, he was 6-for-12 with a pair of home runs, 8 RBIs and six runs scored. On the week, he recorded four multi-hit games with three home runs, seven runs scored and 11 RBIs.
Dalton, a junior right-hander from Lethbridge, Canada (Prairie Baseball Academy), earns honors for the second straight week after having a near perfect week out of the bullpen, not allowing a hit in five innings pitched and picking up three saves in three opportunities. In a non-conference game at California, he threw two no-hit innings to earn the save in a 4-1 win over the Bears. In Friday's WAC contest at UT Rio Grande Valley, he struck out three of the five hitters he faced to earn the save and again returned to the hill on Sunday, striking out two over two no-hit innings to earn his third save of the week and ninth of the season.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees: CSU Bakersfield's Noah Barba hit .500 on the week, including a 3-for-5 night in a 7-5 win at Seattle U on Friday … Grand Canyon's Quin Cotton was 5-for-5 with three doubles and a home run in Sunday's series-clinching win over NM State … Sacramento State's Ian Dawkins hit .353 on the week as the Hornets earned a non-conference win over California and a series win at UT Rio Grande Valley … Seattle U's Curtis Perrin was 8-for-15 on the week as the Redhawks picked up a win over Washington State and a series win over CSU Bakersfield … UT Rio Grande Valley's Roger Varella III went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored in Saturday's 7-6 win over Sacramento State … Utah Valley's David Modley hit a three-run go-ahead home run in a win at Saint Mary's.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees: CSU Bakersfield's Andrew Ciandro earned the win on Friday, allowing two hits over three innings in a 7-5 victory … Chicago State's Zach Thomas struck out eight and allowed just one run on five hits over six innings to earn the win on Saturday against Northern Colorado … Grand Canyon's Ethan Evanko struck out eight and allowed one run on six hits over six innings in an 8-4 win over NM State on Sunday … Utah Valley's Jake Carr struck out four in 3.1 innings of scoreless relief to earn the win at Saint Mary's.