PSAC Baseball Athletes of the Week - 9
Lock Haven, Pa. - Mansfield and East Stroudsburg battled back and forth until the final inning of the teams’ final game last weekend for the final PSAC playoff spot and two of the principle offensive forces in that series share the final PSAC East Player of the Week honor of the 2009 season as Mansfield’s NATE GROVE and East Stroudsburg’s MARK ANGELO are the co-Players of the Week. West Chester’s DAVID SLUSSER is the PSAC East Pitcher of the Week. Slippery Rock’s MATT KOSIK is the PSAC West Player of the Week while Lock Haven’s ANDREW SIMONIK earns his second PSAC West Pitcher of the Week honor of the season.
PSAC East Co-Player of the Week
Nate Grove, Mansfield
Senior, OF
Williamsport, Pa./Williamsport
Grove played a key role in Mansfield clinching the final PSAC Tournament berth out of the PSAC East, as he hit .625 (10-for-16) with two home runs, 10 RBI and six runs scored in five games last week. He posted a 1.225 slugging percentage for the week and a .667 on-base percentage. Grove saved his best for the last game of the season. With Mansfield facing a must-win situation against East Stroudsburg after losing two of the first three games, Grove went 3-for-4 with two home runs and three RBI. With the Mountaineers trailing 10-7 in the fourth inning, Grove hit a two-run home run to close the gap to 10-9. He then started a four-run rally in the sixth as he tied the game with a lead-off home run as Mansfield went on to defeat East Stroudsburg 16-15.
PSAC East Co-Player of the Week
Mark Angelo, East Stroudsburg
Graduate, IF/DH
Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown
Angelo earns his second PSAC East Player of the Week award in the last three weeks, sharing the honor this week with Mansfield’s Nate Grove. Although East Stroudsburg finished the year in a tie with Mansfield after last weekend’s split and lost out on a tiebreaker for the final playoff spot, Angelo did all that was in his power to lift the Warriors into the playoffs as he hit .750 (9-for-12) with five home runs, nine RBI and nine runs scored. He had a slugging percentage of 2.000 and an on-base percentage of .706. Angelo homered in all four games of the series and had three multi-hit and multi-RBI games. He hit two home runs in two games and also scored multiple runs in three of the four games. Angelo finished the season with a school record for total bases and tied the school records for home runs, hits, extra-base hits and doubles in a season.
PSAC East Pitcher of the Week
David Slusser, West Chester
Senior, RHP
Carlisle, Pa./Carlisle
Slusser tossed a complete-game, three-hit shutout in a win over Shippensburg on Saturday. His effort helped the Golden Rams take three out of four games from the Red Raiders last weekend to wrap up their first PSAC East title since 2006. The right-hander faced just two batters over the minimum, walking one and striking out five. He improved to 6-1 on the season with the win in his final regular season start of his career.
PSAC West Player of the Week
Matt Kosik, Slippery Rock
Freshman, OF
McDonald, Pa./South Fayette
Kosik hit .643 (9-for-14) with three doubles, a home run and nine RBI to help Slippery Rock wrap up its regular season by taking three out of four games against Clarion to finish comfortably in third place in the PSAC West. The freshman also scored four runs, had a 1.071 slugging percentage and a .600 on-base percentage for the week. Kosik went 3-for-3 with a pair of RBI in The Rock’s series-opening 8-3 win over the Golden Eagles and followed that up with a 3-for-4 performance with a pair of runs and RBI in the second game of the doubleheader. He also drove in five RBI in a 2-for-4 performance in the final game of the series.
PSAC West Pitcher of the Week
Andrew Simonik, Lock Haven
Sophomore, RHP
Jermyn, Pa./Lakeland
Simonik earns his second PSAC West Pitcher of the Week award of the season after throwing a complete game, two-hit shutout in Lock Haven’s 3-0 win over Gannon on Friday. The Bald Eagles’ sweep of the doubleheader against the Golden Knights on Friday clinched the final PSAC playoff spot in the West for Lock Haven. In going the distance, Simonik struck out six, walked four and faced just four batters over the minimum as he got Gannon to hit into three double plays.