TicketSmarter WAC Baseball Hitter and Pitcher of the Week Announced
DENVER – Grand Canyon's Ryland Zaborowski and Zach Barnes have been named TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for Feb. 15 – Feb. 21.
Zaborowski, a freshman from Gilbert, Ariz., made the most of his first collegiate weekend, posting four-straight multi-hit games as the Lopes took 3-of-4 from Missouri. In his GCU debut, the freshman went 3-for-4 from the plate, driving in a pair of RBIs and scoring twice in the Lopes' 11-3 win. In Saturday's doubleheader, he was a combined 4-for-8 from the dish with three RBIs in the twin bill split. In Sunday's finale, he was 2-for-4 with a pair of runs to help GCU clinch the series with a 10-3 win. His nine hits are a WAC-high through the first weekend of the 2021 season.
Barnes, a senior from Chandler, Ariz., took the ball and dealt on opening night to lead the Lopes to a season-opening win over Missouri. Over six scoreless innings pitched, he scattered two hits and recorded a career-high 10 strikeouts without a walk.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees: California Baptist's Damon Keith hit three home runs in the Lancers opening-weekend series win over WCC-favorite Pepperdine … Northern Colorado's Jake Gitter posted a .538 batting average as the Bears opened the season by taking 2-of-3 from Colorado Christian … Tarleton's Wade Raburn went 3-for-4 at the plate with five RBIs to lead the Texans to their first Division I win on Sunday against Abilene Christian … UT Rio Grande Valley's Christian Sepulveda had a career-high four RBIs in UTRGV's season-opening game against Baylor … Utah Valley's Mitch Moralez led the Wolverines with a .357 average in a road split at St. Mary's.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees: California Baptist's Bryan Pope struck out nine and allowed just one hit over five innings pitched to earn the win on opening night against Pepperdine … Northern Colorado's Sam Leach earned the win on Saturday evening against Colorado Christian, allowing one run on one hit with five strikeouts in five innings pitched … UT Rio Grande Valley's Deryk Serbantez picked up the win against perennial power Baylor, allowing one run with a career-high four strikeouts over two innings to earn the W … Utah Valley's Jesse Schmit started right where he left off in 2020 by tossing five innings of shutout baseball with four strikeouts and two walks over five innings to earn the win at Saint Mary's.