WAC Baseball Hitter and Pitcher of the Week Announced
DENVER – Grand Canyon's Pikai Winchester and NM State's Kyle Bradish have been named Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for May 14 – May 20.
Winchester, a junior designated hitter from Honolulu ('Ionlani School/Central Arizona College), was 9-of-13 in the Lopes' series sweep over Seattle U to help GCU earn its third WAC regular season title in the last four seasons. His best game was on Thursday afternoon, going 4-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBIs in a 12-3 victory. He was then 3-for-5 on Friday as the Lopes clinched the top spot in this week's WAC Tournament and then went 2-for-4 on Saturday as GCU clinched sole possession of the conference crown. He finished the week hitting .588 with nine runs and five RBIs.
Bradish, a junior right-hander from Goodyear, Ariz. (Millennium HS), broke the NM State single season strikeouts record in a win over UT Rio Grande on Thursday. Over six innings, Bradish struck out 12 batters and walked just one while allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits. He broke the previous record of 107 that was held by Albert Montoya in 1991. Bradish heads into the WAC Tournament with a WAC-high 116 strikeouts this season.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees: CSU Bakersfield's Jake Ortega tied the program record with two triples in Friday's 12-2 win over Chicago State and finished the week 5-for-10 from the plate … Northern Colorado's Matt Zoba was 5-for-6 with three runs scored and three RBIs in the Bears' 18-11 win over Air Force … Sacramento State's Keith Torres held a .462 batting average and .611 on-base percentage as the Hornets earned a series sweep over Utah Valley to earn the number two seed at the upcoming WAC Tournament.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees: CSU Bakersfield's Alec Daily earned the complete game win on Thursday, allowing two runs, one of which was earned, on five hits in the seven-inning contest … Grand Canyon's Mick Vorhof earned a pair of saves to help the Lopes earn the WAC regular season title in Seattle … Sacramento State's Austin Roberts earned the win in Thursday's walk-off win over Utah Valley and finished the week with six scoreless innings of relief … UT Rio Grande Valley's Trevelle Hilltook a no-hitter into the seventh inning and ended up with a no decision despite allowing just one hit in seven scoreless innings.