TicketSmarter WAC Baseball Hitter and Pitcher of the Week Announced
DENVER – NM State's Zerek Saenz and Rorik Maltrud have been named TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for March 8 to March 14.
Saenz, a sophomore outfielder from Las Cruces, N.M., led the WAC in several offensive categories, going 17-of-23 from the plate for a .739 batting average in a quintet of wins. In addition to his 17 hits, he drove in 10 RBIs and scored 10 runs himself. Five of those hits were extra-baggers with three doubles and a pair of triples and he had multiple hits in each of the Aggies' five games.
Maltrud, a sophomore right-hander from Austin, Texas, earned a pair of wins in a pair of appearances as the Aggies went 5-0 on the week. On Wednesday, he picked up the win in limited action against Benedictine-Mesa, allowing just one hit and striking out two in two innings of work. He earned the start against on Sunday, going six innings with nine strikeouts and one walk, scattering a pair of hits to earn the victory.
Other Hitter of the Week nominees: California Baptist's Damon Keith was 3-for-3 with a home run and three runs scored in the Lancers' series finale at California … Dixie State's Tyler Hollow was 2-for-4 in the Trailblazers' 5-4 walkoff win over Brigham Young on Tuesday … Grand Canyon's Tayler Aguilar started the week going 5-for-6 from the plate as the Lopes swept past Seattle U in a WAC series … Northern Colorado's Matt Burkart had four home runs on the week in a four-game WAC series at NM State … Sacramento State's Steven Moretto had a pair of hits in each of the Hornets' four wins at Utah Valley, finishing the weekend with a .500 batting average, six RBIs and five runs scored … Seattle U's Matt Boissoneault hits .438 for the Redhawks as SU opened WAC play with four games at Grand Canyon … UT Rio Grande Valley's Freddy Rojas Jr. homered in each of the Vaqueros' four games at Dixie State, recording 11 RBIs to go with five runs scored … Utah Valley's Alexander Marco hit .400 for the Wolverines as couldn't keep pace with Sacramento State in UVU's WAC openers.
Other Pitcher of the Week nominees: California Baptist's Chris Burica picked up the win at California, striking out eight without allowing a walk in a complete-game shutout victory on Friday night … Dixie State's Tevita Gerber pitched seven solid innings, allowing two runs, only one earned, to pick up the win against UT Rio Grande Valley on Sunday … Grand Canyon's Carter Young doubled his previous career-high with 10 strikeouts to pick up the win on Sunday against Seattle U … Northern Colorado's Cooper Rust struck out three without allowing a hit in 1.2 innings of relief on Sunday against NM State … Sacramento State's Brady Rodriguez came out of the bullpen to earn a pair of wins for the Hornets at Utah Valley, combining for a pair of strikeouts with just three hits allowed in 3.2 scoreless innings … UT Rio Grande Valley's Colten Davis earned the win on Saturday against Dixie State, striking out five in a career-high six innings as part of an 18-1 win … Utah Valley's Mason Gray struck out seven and walked just one in a no-decision on Sunday against Sacramento State.