PSAC Baseball Athletes of the Week - 7
A pair of Mercyhurst Lakers swept both the Player and Pitcher of the Week awards in the PSAC West this week after both JOHN BLIKE and NICK GILLUNG helped the Lakers to wins in three out of four games last weekend against Slippery Rock. East Stroudsburg’s MARK ANGELO gets the nod as the PSAC East Player of the Week this week, becoming the third different Warrior to earn the honor this year, while Bloomsburg’s GRANT KERNAGHAN earns his second PSAC East Pitcher of the Week award of the season.
PSAC East Player of the Week
Mark Angelo, East Stroudsburg
Graduate, IF
Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown
Angelo helped lead East Stroudsburg to a 4-2 week by hitting .522 (12-for-23) with two home runs and 10 RBI and nine runs scored. He had a .913 slugging percentage for the week as he hit safely in five of ESU’s six games, including four multi-hit games and three multi-RBI games. In a doubleheader sweep of Lock Haven last Wednesday, Angelo went 7-for-9 with four RBI, a pair of doubles and four runs. In a series split with Millersville over the weekend, he had a double, two home runs, six RBI and five runs, including a pair of 2-for-4 performances with a home run, three RBI and two runs scored apiece. With his three doubles on the week, he tied a school record for doubles in a season with 18. Angelo is also the third different Warrior to be named the PSAC East Player of the Week this year, joining teammates Kevin Thompson and Mike Bortz.
PSAC East Pitcher of the Week
Grant Kernaghan, Bloomsburg
Junior, RHP
Upper Darby, Pa./Upper Darby
Kernaghan earns his second PSAC East Pitcher of the Week honor of the season after helping the Huskies to their only win of their series with Kutztown by throwing a complete game, four-hit shutout. Kernaghan struck out five and walked one to improve to 4-3 on the season as he outdueled Kutztown ace Darin Gorski in Bloomsburg’s 1-0 win that took just 1:39 to complete. He induced nine ground ball outs and allowed just one runner to reach as far as second base.
PSAC West Player of the Week
John Blike, Mercyhurst
Junior, IF
Akron, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban
Blike earns this week’s PSAC West Player of the Week award after contributing to all three Mercyhurst wins last week in a 3-1 week for the Lakers. He played in just three of the four games, the three wins, and hit .714 (5-for-7) with two runs, a home run and four RBI. He also had a 1.143 slugging percentage. In the first game of the series with Slippery Rock, with the game in extra innings and tied at 2-2, Blike stepped to the plate as a pinch hitter to lead off the bottom of the eighth inning and drilled a game-winning and game-ending solo home run to help the Lakers start off the series with a win. He then earned the start at DH in the second game of the twinbill and responded with a 2-for-4 performance and three RBI to help lead Mercyhurst to a 6-0 win to go up 2-0 in the series. In game three of the series, he entered as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning and helped spark a six-run inning that broke a 3-3 tie and gave the Lakers an eventual 9-6 win. Blike went on to go 2-for-2 in the game with a run scored.
PSAC West Pitcher of the Week
Nick Gillung, Mercyhurst
Sophomore, LHP
Worthville, Pa./Punxsutawney
Gillung becomes the second straight Mercyhurst pitcher and the third different Laker hurler overall this year to be named the PSAC West Pitcher of the Week after he threw a complete-game shutout to lead the Lakers to a 6-0 win over Slippery Rock in the second game of a weekend four-game series. His efforts helped Mercyhurst to a series win in which it took three out of four games from the PSAC West preseason favorites. Gillung allowed just three hits in seven innings of work, striking out nine and walking none. He faced just three batters over the minimum in his seven frames and did not allow a single runner to get past first base. Gillung, who improved to 5-0 on the season with the win, joins teammates Ryan Schreiber and Steven Grife as PSAC West Pitchers of the Week this year.