Combs, Lee Tabbed ASC Baseball Players of the Week
4/12/2016 8:49:49 AM
AMERICAN SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE BASEBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Games: April 4-10, 2016
HITTER OF THE WEEK – Conner Combs, Jr., 1B, East Texas Baptist
Junior first baseman Conner Combs (Southlake, Texas / Carroll HS) had a career weekend batting .727 with a 1.364 slugging percentage and seven RBI. He hit two home runs in game one of Saturday’s double header and never struck out in 11 plate appearances. His first home run against LeTourneau put East Texas Baptist in front 4-3 in the third inning and sparked 14 unanswered runs in the next three innings. His second home run came in the fifth inning to make it 9-3 and he then finished the game with single in the sixth inning for two RBI for a total of six RBI on the day. He had three hits in game one and two each and two in game three. His hitting helped ETBU complete the sweep of LeTourneau.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK – Brandon Lee, Sr., RHP, Texas Dallas
Senior pitcher Brandon Lee (Dallas, Texas / Greenhill School) recorded the first shutout of the season for the Comets Saturday with a 7-0 victory over Ozarks to open a doubleheader. Lee struck out six Eagles while giving up just two hits in the seven-inning performance. Lee retired the Eagles in order in five of seven innings.
OTHER TOP PERFORMANCES AT THE PLATE
Belhaven junior Terrell Hodges (Brandon, Miss. / Holmes CC) helped the Blazers to a doubleheader sweep of No. 12/13 UT-Tyler on Saturday. In game one, Hodges scored the go-ahead run in a scoreless tie in the bottom of the sixth with a two-run RBI single. In his next official at bat, which came in the bottom of the first of game two, Hodges went 360 feet on a fly ball to right center field for an inside-the-park home run that started a scoring spree in the 19-6 win over the Patriots. On the week, he hit .545, drove in seven RBI and scored six runs of his own. In game two alone, Hodges scored four runs and drove in four RBI.
Concordia Texas sophomore outfielder Michael Evan (Cameron, Texas / Yoe HS) led the team in slugging and total bases over the weekend set at Sul Ross State. His two-run triple proved to be the game-winning hit in the series finale Saturday. In Friday's contest, Evan went 1-for-2 as a pinch hitter and scored twice in the Tornados' wild 11-run ninth.
Concordia Texas junior second baseman / outfielder Zach De Luna (Pittsburg, Texas / Pittsburg HS) had a huge week hitting .632 with three doubles, a triple, drove in five runs and scored five times. He also played a solid second base and late in games played in center field.
Howard Payne junior first baseman Brett Quackenbush (Kingsville, Texas / Riviera Kaufer HS) led over a five game week with a .429 average and a .857 slugging percentage. Quackenbush was 6-for-14 from the plate with seven RBI and 12 total bases. He had a double, triple and a home run on the week and scored five runs.
LeTourneau junior infielder Jacob Simmons (La Porte, Texas / La Porte HS) hit a pair of home runs and shared the team lead with four runs scored in the three-game series against East Texas Baptist. He also had a team-high five hits including three extra-base hits with a double and two home runs. He ended the weekend with a three-hit game in the 18-11 loss to ETBU.
Louisiana College sophomore outfielder Sully Martin (Paulina, La. / Lutcher HS) used his speed to put pressure on McMurry all weekend stealing a total of five bases in the three-game series. A steal of third base in the bottom of the seventh in the series finale broke the school record for steals in a season (26), formerly held by current assistant coach Matt Byrnes.
Mary Hardin-Baylor sophomore third baseman Scott Stephens (The Woodlands, Texas / The Woodlands HS) had back-to-back multi-hit games in the Hardin-Simmons series and batted .667. He had two home runs and drove in four runs despite being limited to two contests. He also scored three runs, including the game-winner on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning in the series finale. Stephens worked a one-out walk to start the Cru's game-winning rally in that game. He slugged 1.667 over the week.
Texas Dallas senior Brandon George (Spring, Texas / Spring HS) hit .500 with two home runs, including a walk-off grand slam, to cap the Comets' perfect 4-0 week. George was 4-for-9 with his two long balls over the weekend as UTD took all three games against Ozarks. George had a solo home run in Saturday's opener with the Eagles then ended the sweep with a walk-off grand slam home run in the Comets' 10-0 win over Ozarks in the series finale. Earlier in the week, George was 2-for-3 with two RBI in an 8-3 road win over the University of Dallas.
Texas-Tyler freshman outfielder Graham Welch (Arlington, Texas / Arlington Martin HS) went 6-for-11 last weekend at Belhaven including hitting his seventh triple of the season which leads the ASC and is second nationally. Welch also had a double during the weekend which took his season's batting average to .328.
OTHER TOP PERFORMANCES ON THE MOUND
Belhaven senior pitcher Tanner Moulder (Hendersonville, Tenn. / Motlow State CC) continued his dominant pitching in his last start against No. 12/13 UT-Tyler. Moulder went the distance in game one of the twin bill, allowed three hits, with two earned runs. Through six innings, he allowed one hit and one walk before allowing two runs on two hits in the seventh. Moulder had a streak of 15 consecutive scoreless innings, which was broken in the seventh inning.
East Texas Baptist senior pitcher Jimmy Russo (Kingwood, Texas / Kingwood Park HS) came through in two relief appearances against LeTourneau gaining a win and a save in 6.1 innings pitched. In game one, Russo pitched the final 4.2 innings and didn't allow any runs. He came in as ETBU had a 6-4 lead in the fifth and finished out the game. He retired the first 10 batters he faced before LeTourneau got a hit in the eighth inning. He struck out a career-high seven batters in the 4.2 innings pitched. In the final game of the series, he came in for the save when ETBU was up 13-11 and retired the next five batters for the save. It was his best outing in his career in two outings with eight strikeouts and no earned runs earning a save and a win.
Hardin-Simmons sophomore pitcher Taylor Cooling (Mont Belvieu, Texas / Barbers Hill HS) became the team saves leader with a pair of saves against Mary Hardin-Baylor. He had a four-out save on Friday night and needed just one pitch to record his 11th save on Saturday. He set the HSU single-season record, surpassing Los Angeles Angels farmhand Tyler Brunnemann with 10.
Howard Payne junior pitcher Kyle Ramon (San Antonio, Texas/East Central HS) pitched the game one victory (7-2) of a four game series at Arlington Baptist. Ramon allowed three unearned runs in five innings with six strikeouts.