ASC – Sports

 

BASEBALL

AMERICAN SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE BASEBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Games: March 20-24, 2018

HITTER OF THE WEEK – Blake Maddox, C, Jr., UT Tyler

The University of Texas at Texas junior catcher Blake Maddox (Jacksonville, Texas) hit three home runs, including a grand slam in the 11th inning of a game two win to lead the Patriots to a three-game sweep of McMurry last weekend in Abilene. Maddox, who now has five home runs this season, smashed his first grand slam of the season as the Patriots earned an 8-4 win in a game where he had tied it at four with a solo home run earlier in the game. He also had a homer in the first game where the Patriots took a 14-5 win to open the series. Maddox finished the weekend with seven RBI and four runs scored.

CO-PITCHER OF THE WEEK – Call Florence, RHP, Jr., East Texas Baptist
East Texas Baptist junior Call Florence (Tyler, Texas) posted five strikeouts with a save and a 0.00 ERA in two appearances for the Tigers. He finished off a 7-0 win over Millsaps with a strikeout in a scoreless frame. Florence earned the save by allowing only two hits while fanning four for a three-inning save in a 10-2 victory against Howard Payne.

CO-PITCHER OF THE WEEK – Justin Traxler, RHP, Sr., Concordia Texas
Concordia University Texas senior Justin Traxler (Austin, Texas) earned his second Pitcher of the Week award of the season and third of his career by posting a pair of waves with two strikeouts over 4.1 innings in the Tornados’ two wins at Hardin-Simmons. On Friday, Traxler fanned two and allowed two hits in four scoreless innings for the save in a 16-9 victory. With two on and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, he came in to induce the final out of the game and earn the save in a 10-7 win.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES AT THE PLATE
Howard Payne University senior outfielder Benjamin Lewis (Fort Worth, Texas) went 7-for-13 (.583) for the week over five games. Lewis drove in three runs and had eight total bases along with two doubles. He was also 2-for-2 in stolen bases.

Hardin-Simmons University senior right fielder Cody Berryman (Shallowater, Texas) had a big week as the Cowboys went 1-2 against conference-leading Concordia Texas. He had seven hits, three doubles, drove in six runs and scored four.

University of the Ozarks senior left fielder Patrick Mixon (Lewisville, Texas) helped the Eagles sweep Mary Hardin-Baylor behind a five-hit, seven-RBI performance over three games. Mixon hit a grand slam, finished 3-for-5 and drove in six runs in a 21-13 win in game three. For the week, he scored three runs and posted a .769 slugging percentage.

East Texas Baptist junior first baseman Seth Mikeska (Pearland, Texas) was a crucial part of the two wins over Howard Payne on Saturday. In game two, he had five RBI in a 10-2 win with a home run and a double. In the opener, he walked twice and scored both times in a 6-5 victory. Mikeska scored on a passed ball to tie the game at two in first and came in on a sacrifice fly in the second for a 3-2 lead. In the 7-0 regional win over Millsaps, he had a double.

Belhaven University senior infielder Will Costinett (St. Francisville, La.) hit .600 (6-for-10) with a pair of doubles, a home run, three home runs and four runs scored in a doubleheader sweep over UW-Platteville.

The University of Texas at Dallas junior second baseman Ryan Burciaga (Katy, Texas) was 3-for-6 with a walk, collecting five RBI, in the Comets’ 20-16 home loss to Texas Wesleyan on Tuesday.

Concordia Texas sophomore shortstop Casen Novak (Flatonia, Texas) hit .462 (6-of-13) with five runs, a double, RBI and two steals as the Tornados took two-of-three from Hardin-Simmons.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES ON THE MOUND
Howard Payne senior righty Dylan Vilaros (Fort Worth, Texas) struck out nine in a nine-inning no-decision start for Howard Payne. Vilaros allowed two runs on six hits holding East Texas Baptist to just a .188 average at the plate in the eventual 3-2 victory in 11 innings.

Ozark’s sophomore right-handed pitcher Gyeongju Kim (Seoul, South Korea) pitched a complete game to open the series and fuel the Eagles’ three-game sweep over Mary Hardin-Baylor. Kim scattered six hits over seven innings and struck out five. Kim pitched 3.1 shutout innings to open the game and issued only two walks over seven innings.

UT Tyler senior right-hander Ryan Cheatham (Whitehouse, Texas) struck out seven and earned his third win of the season in the opener at McMurry last Friday. With his offense producing runs, Cheatham limited McMurry to three earned runs through five innings despite allowing 11 hits.

 

SOFTBALL

AMERICAN SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE SOFTBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Games: March 12-17, 2018

HITTER OF THE WEEK – Nicole Garcia, OF, Jr., UT Tyler

UT Tyler junior infielder Nicole Garcia (Sugar Land, Texas) continued her impressive season by hitting .692 in a four-game week for the No. 3 Patriots. Garcia was 9-for-13 with three doubles from the leadoff spot in the UT Tyler lineup. She drove in three runs and scored seven more as the Patriots improved to 18-1 on the season with a pair of non-conference doubleheader sweeps of Louisiana College and St. Catherine. She has a hit in all 19 games this season for the Patriots.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK – Jordan Anderson, RHP, Sr., East Texas Baptist
East Texas Baptist University senior Jordan Anderson (Hawley, Texas) put together an intense week with 25 strikeouts and going 3-0 in ASC play. In 27.1 IP, she did not give up an earned run and allowed only two extra-base hits as she limited batters to a .098 average. Anderson fanned ten against LeTourneau in game two of the double-header and seven against Louisiana College in a 7-4 win. It is Anderson’s second Pitcher of the Week award in her career.

PERFORMANCES AT THE PLATE
McMurry University junior first baseman Rachel Ripley (Gustine, Texas) had a banner week, helping the War Hawks’ first-year program to an extra-inning victory and a walk-off victory, while also taking 2-of-3 from the NCAA’s No. 3-ranked team, Belhaven. Ripley had at least one hit in each of her team’s games last week, as well as back-to-back games with four RBI each. Her team-leading fifth home run (a three-run shot) provided the game-winning RBI against the Blazers in the series opener.

Howard Payne University junior first baseman Haley Slater (Tonawanda, N.Y.) went 5-for-10 at the plate versus Hardin-Simmons. Slater drove in three runs, had eight total bases and a home run.

Belhaven University senior infielder Makayla Reed (Saraland, Ala.) played a vital role in the production of the Blazers offense hitting a three-run home run and a two-run homer in game three against McMurry. She hit .445 (4-for-9) with a double, four runs and seven RBI in the series.

University of Mary Hardin-Baylor sophomore outfielder Linsey Tomlinson (Huffman, Texas) hit .400 for the Cru last week, slamming two home runs and reaching home five times. She went 4-for-10 at the plate and got on base with walks three times. Tomlinson also recorded two stolen bases and drove in three runs.

University of the Ozarks senior left fielder Brooke Hoffsommer (Alma, Ark.) hit .375 and scored two runs in the Eagles three-game series against UT Dallas. Hoffsommer also drove in a run and had a double.

Hardin-Simmons University freshman second baseman Cierra Woodyard (Abilene, Texas) hit .550 in 20 at-bats for the week and helped the Cowgirls pick up their first win of the season. She also had three stolen bases and was very solid at second base.

The University of Texas at Dallas sophomore outfielder Kendra Litchfield (Lockhart, Texas) was 5-for-10 from the plate with four RBI as the Comets took two of three games at Ozarks over the weekend. She opened the set with a 2-for-3 performance with a double in a 3-1 victory over the Eagles. She followed up by going 2-for-4 with a stolen base in the nightcap, 9-4, win. Litchfield was then 1-for-3 with her first home run of the season in Saturday’s loss to Ozarks.

East Texas Baptist freshman designated player Daniella Solis (Baytown, Texas) had an intense week in six ASC games, hitting three home runs and recording 17 total bases with three runs scored. In the second game against Louisiana College, she had a solo home run in 3rd in the third. She went 4-of-9 in the LC series with a double and a home run. Against LeTourneau, Solis hit two home runs with four RBI and a sacrifice bunt.

PERFORMANCES IN THE CIRCLE
Howard Payne junior right-hander Kendra Evans (Midland, Texas) pitched 13.1 scoreless innings going 2-0 in two starts and three appearances. Evans struck out seven and held Hardin-Simmons to a .193 average at the plate. She also went 1-for-4 at plate batting.

Mary Hardin-Baylor sophomore righty Hannah Halepaska (Orange Grove, Texas) threw a dominant week in the circle for the Cru, pitching two complete-game victories. She opened the Hardin-Simmons series with a 6-0 win over the Cowgirls, pitching seven innings with just three hits allowed. Halepaska struck out seven batters in that contest and did not walk one in 25 batters faced. She followed that with a series-ending 10-1 win over the Cowgirls. In that contest, Halepaska threw a complete six innings with seven hits allowed. Hardin-Simmons scored one unearned run in the bottom of the sixth inning for Halespaska’s lone run surrendered. She struck out eight batters in that contest and walked just one. Halepaska ended the week with a 0.00 ERA, 15 strikeouts and only one walk.

Ozark’s sophomore right-hander Abby Mork (Aurora, Colo.) scattered seven hits with five strikeouts over six innings to receive the win against UT Dallas in game three. Mork threw a complete game in the series opener and fanned five.

UT Tyler sophomore right-hander Whitney Romero (Lafayette, La.) improved to 8-0 on the season and after earning a pair of wins over Louisiana College and then St. Catherine last weekend. She recorded 11 strikeouts and two complete-game victories and would limit the opponents to a .103 batting average in 12 innings of work.

UT Dallas sophomore left-handed pitcher Karen Crane (Grand Saline, Texas) picked up a win and a save in Friday’s doubleheader sweep of Ozarks to open a weekend set with the Eagles. In the opener, Crane scattered five hits with one earned run with three strikeouts in a 3-1 complete-game victory over the Eagles. She then picked up the save in the second game of the day, tossing 3.0 scoreless innings to close out a 9-4 win in the nightcap.

Concordia Texas junior righty Jorden Russell (Leander, Texas) went 2-0 with a 0.58 ERA and four strikeouts in a pair of starts against Sul Ross State. She gave up four hits in 12 innings against the Lobos.

Cody Usher
Assistant Commissioner
American Southwest Conference