Payne, Thompson Named ASC Baseball Players of the Week
4/5/2016 12:12:07 PM
AMERICAN SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE BASEBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Games: March29 - April 3, 2016
HITTER OF THE WEEK – Noah Payne, Fr., 3B, Howard Payne
Freshman third baseman Noah Payne (Humble, Texas / Atascosita HS) led the Jackets last week going 8-for-16 from the plate with a .750 slugging percentage. Payne had two doubles and a triple driving in three runs. He recorded 12 total bases and scored five times over four games against McMurry and Sul Ross State.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK – Austin Thompson, Jr., LHP, Louisiana College
Junior pitcher Austin Thompson (Elmer, La. / Oak Hill HS) tossed a complete game with 15 strike outs to set a new school single-game record in the 4-2 win over Rust College. In seven innings, Thompson allowed just one walk and held batters to a .231 average and did not allow an earned run.
OTHER TOP PERFORMANCES AT THE PLATE
Belhaven senior first baseman Trey Eschberger (Lindale, Texas / Richland College) went 8-for 17 last week for the Blazers. All eight hits coming against Hardin-Simmons in conference play, including a perfect 4-for-4 performance in game one. Eschberger drove in six RBI, and scored four runs. Eschberger is currently on a 16-game on-base streak, the longest for Belhaven this season, and is hitting .404 during the streak with 15 RBI. During the streak, he has recorded a hit in 12 of the 16 games, and a multi-hit game in seven of the 12 hit games.
Concordia Texas freshman outfielder Bret Leiferman (Round Rock, Texas / Round Rock HS) drew four walks in addition to five hits for a .692 on-base percentage over the weekend. His lone RBI came in game two of the series as he drew a bases-loaded walk that drove in the winning run.
East Texas Baptist freshman second baseman Dylan Sumpter (Tyler, Texas / Grace Community HS) had the best performance of any player on the team against No. 16 Centenary. He had six hits and two RBI and hit in all three games. He had three hits in game one, two in game two, and one in game three.
LeTourneau senior outfielder Sean Sellers (Arlington, Texas / Woodinville, Wash. HS) hit .357 in the YellowJackets' four games last week. As the lead-off batter, Sellers had a team-high six runs over the four games played. He also had a double and a home run en route to a team-high .643 slugging percentage. In the doubleheader sweep of Louisiana College, Sellers had a pair of multi-hit games.
Louisiana College sophomore outfielder Sully Martin (Paulina, La. / Lutcher HS) stole seven bases over the weekend for the Wildcats including five on Sunday in a double-header against Rust College. He is now only five steals away from breaking the single season school record (25) for steals as a sophomore.
Mary Hardin-Baylor senior outfielder Will Stafford (Katy, Texas / Cinco Ranch HS) hit .455 and slugged .818 in the series at McMurry. He drove in four runs and scored four more from the No. 9 spot in the line-up. He almost doubled his season total for RBI in the series and helped keep the Cru in three close games while raising his season average to a team-best .382.
Ozarks sophomore second baseman Adam Winter (Conway, Ark. / Conway HS) singled in the game-tying run in the ninth and then produced the game-winning run with another single in the bottom of the 10th to push Ozarks past Austin College (4-3). Winter finished 2-for-3 with two RBI and three walks in Ozarks only game of the week.
Texas Dallas senior outfielder Haden Johnson (North Richland Hills, Texas / Birdville HS) hit .500 as the Comets posted a 2-2 record last week in four road games. Johnson opened the week going 4-for-5 with four runs scored and two RBI as the Comets rolled to a 21-4 win at Southwestern. He was then 4-for-11 with a run scored and an RBI in UTD's three-game series at league-leading Concordia Texas over the weekend. Johnson was 3-for-3 in stolen base attempts and drew a walk.
OTHER TOP PERFORMANCES ON THE MOUND
Belhaven senior pitcher Tanner Moulder (Hendersonville, Tenn. / Motlow State CC) flirted with a no-hitter in his start against Hardin-Simmons last Friday. The bid was broken with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning. He would finish the frame and go eight shutout innings, allowed one hit while striking out five. Prior to the start, Moulder's opposing batting average was at .266, which was seventh in the ASC. After the one-hit performance on Friday, the average dropped to .227 and is now fifth. With a one-inning relief appearance against Millsaps on Tuesday, he went nine shutout innings on the week, allowed one hit and struck out seven.
Concordia Texas junior pitcher Jake Valadez (Round Rock, Texas / Texas State) earned the win on the series finale against Texas Dallas, coming in relief of starter Josh Smith and dealing seven strikeouts in just over four innings of work.
Howard Payne junior pitcher Kyle Ramon (San Antonio, Texas / East Central HS) won the series opener 2-1 for the Jackets against Sul Ross State. Ramon went eight full innings striking out seven and allowing just one unearned run on seven hits and walking none.
LeTourneau freshman pitcher Will Bradshaw (Longview, Texas / Longview HS) pitched the first complete game of his LETU career in a 3-2 win over Louisiana College. In the complete game, Bradshaw allowed just three singles. He struck out a season-high eight Wildcats including three-straight to preserve the complete game. Bradshaw did not allow a walk and limited LC to a .136 batting average.
Ozarks junior pitcher Keaton Ramsey (Sheridan, Ark. / Sheridan HS) retired 12 straight batters to open the game against Austin College. Ramsey, who received a no-decision, went six and two-third innings and did not allow an earned run. He struck out three and issued only one walk.
Texas Dallas senior right-hander Aaron Bach (Bellaire, Texas / Bellaire HS) struck four and earned the win as the Comets opened their weekend series at ASC-leader Concordia Texas with a 7-3 victory Friday night. Bach pitched 8.0 strong innings, scattering five hits, as he improved to 3-4 on the season.