DALLAS (NCBWA) Member institutions of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference and the Liberty League picked up Hitter, Pitcher, and Rookie of the Week recognition for April 9-15.
Hitter of the Week: Junior catcher Austin Parent of Pitt-Bradford was a juggernaut on his own for the Panthers offense last week. The Gilbert, Ariz., native belted five home runs and collected 14 RBI in five games that helped UPB go 4-1. Two of his home runs were grand slams, and he hit three in one day at Pitt-Greensburg. He scored at least one run in each game, totaling 13 overall. For the week, Parent batted 13-for-23 (.565), had seven extra-base hits, and a staggering 1.304 slugging percentage, while also drawing two walks and adding a stolen base.
Honorable Mention Hitter: Blake Strebler, Sr., INF/OF, Westminster (Mo.) - Tied an NCAA Division III record with four home runs in a single game; doing so against Spalding. He went 4-for-5 in the record-tying game, with four home runs and seven runs batted in. On the week, Strebler hit .471 with four home runs and eight RBI while scoring seven runs. He had multiple hits in the three of his four games and finished the week with a 1.235 slugging percentage.
Pitcher of the Week: Senior Jack Herzing of Penn State-Behrend had a week to remember. The St. Marys, Pa., native broke the school record for most career strikeouts along with throwing a no-hitter against Hilbert during the span. On the week, he struck out 31 batters and allowed just one hit on 14 innings of work. In game one against Hilbert, threw a no-no he where he struck out a 15 of the total 21 batters he faced and retired the side himself on three separate occasions. Then on Friday, Herzing put on a strikeout clinic in a 7-0 win over Alfred State. He fanned the first nine batters he faced and threw a no-hitter over five innings. In the top of the fourth, the left-handed hurler sat down his 11th batter of the game, setting up a new school record for career strikeouts (257). He ended the game with 16 K's while only allowing one hit.
Honorable Mention Pitcher: P.J. Mikulus, Sr., Washington College - Tossed the first nine-inning no-hitter in 48 years as Washington College blanked Dickinson, 7-0, in the opener of their doubleheader. He retired the first 13 and the last 14 batters he faced with only a fielding error in the fifth preventing a perfect game. He struck out seven in posting the 16th no-hitter in Conference history and second this season by a Shoremen pitcher.
Rookie of the Week: Infielder/outfielder Jack Koch of Union College (N.Y.) tore the cover off the baseball at a high rate last week. The St. Paul, Minn., native led the Dutchmen during the period with a .737 batting average (14-for-19) through five games (4-1). He paced the team with 14 hits, four doubles, two triples and 22 total bases. Koch also recorded a 1.158 slugging percentage and a .739 on-base percentage as Union's lead-off hitter. He had a career-best five-hit game against Skidmore in game two on April 14 and is currently on a six-game hitting streak.
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