ASC Announces Baseball Player of the Week Awards
3/9/2015 12:54:26 PM
AMERICAN SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE BASEBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Games: March 2-8, 2015
CO-HITTER OF THE WEEK – Connor Bertsch, 1B, Jr., Concordia Texas
Junior first baseman Connor Bertsch (Fayetteville, Texas/Fayetteville HS) led the Tornados to a series victory over Texas Dallas this past weekend. Bertsch hit .857 (6-for-7) with three doubles and three RBI. He tallied nine total bases, which translated into a 1.286 slugging percentage, and he reached base at a .833 clip. Additionally, he scored two runs, walked twice, was hit by a pitch two times and stole a base. Bertsch, who had two hits in each of the three games last week, saw his average rise 135 points to .314 following the series.
CO-HITTER OF THE WEEK – Logan Tucker, INF, Sr., Texas-Tyler
Senior infielder Logan Tucker (Grand Prairie, Texas/South Grand Prairie HS) led the Patriot offense, hitting .778 (7-for-9) with seven runs-scored, three RBI, three doubles and 10 total bases. Tucker helped UT Tyler sweep a three-game series against Ozarks while scoring 35 runs on 46 hits. The Patriots have now won 10 of-its-last 12 games.
CO-PITCHER OF THE WEEK – Cameron Cox, RHP, Sr., Concordia Texas
Senior pitcher Cameron Cox (Round Rock, Texas/Stony Point HS) hurled a complete-game two-hitter for a 3-0 win over Texas Dallas in the second game of the series last Saturday. Cox struck out seven, while facing four over the minimum. Cox sat the Comets down in order in four of the seven innings, improved to 4-0 on the season and lowered his ERA to 1.97. In league play, Cox has been dominant, posting a 3-0 mark with a 0.86 ERA in 21 innings. He also has posted two shutouts and logged three complete games against ASC opponents.
CO-PITCHER OF THE WEEK – Bo Ockman, RHP, So., Louisiana College
Sophomore pitcher Bo Ockman (Thibodaux, La./Thibodaux HS) picked up his first career win in a 2-1 decision against Howard Payne. In 8.0 innings on the mound Ockman gave up just four hits, recorded 10 strike outs and did not allow an earned run. It was the first time a Wildcat pitcher has struck out 10 batters in a single game since Josh Lang against LeTourneau in March of 2013.
OTHER TOP PERFORMANCES AT THE PLATE
East Texas Baptist junior shortstop Dynas Doud (Adel, Iowa/DC Grimes HS) had one of his best series of the year batting .556 in three games against Univ. of Dallas. He had two RBI in game one with two runs scored in the 11-5 win. In game three he was 2-for-3 with three RBI and two walks. Doud recorded a .667 slugging percentage and a .692 on-base percentage.
Howard Payne junior catcher/designated hitter Matthew Daniel (Cleveland, Texas/Cleveland HS) was 5-for-14 last week at the plate in doubleheader wins over Arlington Baptist and a series loss to Louisiana College. Daniel hit .357 from the plate with two doubles, a triple and had one stolen base. He had a .643 slugging percentage for the week.
LeTourneau junior outfielder Taylor Empkey (Bedford, Texas/LD Bell HS) hit a team best .833 and had back-to-back multi-hit games in the doubleheader split with Hardin-Simmons. Empkey accounted for a team-leading five of the 23 hits by the YellowJackets in the twin bill.
Louisiana College senior catcher Garrett Parsons (Channelview, Texas/Channelview HS) collected four hits, including a double and a home run to lead the Wildcats to a critical three-game series sweep of Howard Payne. Parsons scored four runs and drove in two more while hitting .400 over the weekend.
Mary Hardin-Baylor senior outfielder K. J. Stark (Killeen, Texas/Ellison HS) batted .444 and had an on base percentage of .583 in a three-game series sweep of Sul Ross State. He drove in five runs and scored four more after sitting out the non-conference game against DeSales. Stark reached base at least twice in every game in the series sweep of the Lobos.
Ozarks sophomore shortstop Andrew Beck (Conway, Ark./St Joseph HS) produced seven hits and five RBI over five games last week for the Eagles. Beck went 3-for-4 with four RBI in a win over Howard Payne (March 2). He then had a hit in each of the next three contests.
Sul Ross State senior shortstop Josh Vasquez (Lubbock, Texas/Frenship HS) had four of the Lobos’ 16 hits in a three-game series at Mary Hardin-Baylor. He led SRSU with a .444 batting average and had an on-base percentage of .500. Vasquez added two sacrifices and did not have an error in the field on 15 chances. He is currently hitting .258.
Texas Dallas senior first baseman Brandon Clounch (Carrolton, Texas/Hebron HS) went 4-for-10 from the plate as the Comets went 1-2 for at Concordia Texas over the weekend. In Friday's 6-5, 11-inning win over the Tornados, Clounch was 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored.
OTHER TOP PERFORMANCES ON THE MOUND
East Texas Baptist senior pitcher Zack Tampke (Katy, Texas/Mayde Creek HS) pitched six innings tying his longest outing of the season with three strikeouts in a 2-1 seven inning win over Univ. of Dallas. He retired the side in three of the six innings pitched. Tampke is now 2-1 on the year.
Hardin-Simmons junior pitcher Colton Spears (Pflugerville, Texas/Pflugerville HS) worked six scoreless innings of relief to earn a win over LeTourneau. He also was the starting third baseman.
Howard Payne senior pitcher Jacob Spivey (Belton, Texas/Harker Heights HS) recorded five strike outs in a 2-1 loss at Louisiana College. He recorded a win earlier in the week over Arlington Baptist allowing just one run on two hits.
LeTourneau senior pitcher Justin Jenkins (Hallsville, Texas/Hallsville HS) recorded double digit strikeouts for a second-straight appearance in last week’s contests. Despite not being involved in the decision, Jenkins went nine innings until giving away to the bullpen. Of the six hits just two went for extra bases.
Mary Hardin-Baylor sophomore pitcher Seth Hill (Cat Springs, Texas/Sealy HS) pitched a complete-game, two-hitter in the Cru's 6-1 win over Sul Ross State. He struck out five and walked just two batters while holding the Lobos to a .095 batting average.
Ozarks senior right-hander Oscar Dominguez (Longview, Texas/Longview HS) fashioned a four-hitter to lead the Eagles to a 6-1 win over Howard Payne (March 2). Dominguez faced 26 batters and struck out four in a complete game effort.
Sul Ross State junior pitcher Justin Vajgert (Kyle, Texas/Lehman HS) started and went all the way in a 4-3 loss to Mary Hardin-Baylor in the opener of the series Friday night. He pitched his third complete game of the season and yielded only six hits and three earned runs while walking four and striking out seven.
Texas Dallas senior reliever Aaron Bach (Bellaire, Texas/Bellaire HS) picked up his second win of the season Friday night as he tossed two scoreless innings with four strikeouts in UTD's 6-5, 11-inning win over Concordia Texas to open the weekend series. Bach then tossed two more scoreless innings in the series finale, striking out two more Tornados. Bach scattered four hits in his two relief appearances.
Texas-Tyler sophomore pitcher Cade Suggs (Tyler, Texas/East Texas Christian Academy) was stellar on the mound for the Patriots, pitching 7.1 innings of shutout baseball en route to a 4-1 win. Suggs allowed no walks, struck out four Eagles and led the Patriots with 7.1 innings pitched last week.