Kutztown's Nate Reed (left) and Lock Haven's Mark Strouse (right).
PSAC Baseball Athletes of the Week - 8
Lock Haven, Pa. - A no-hitter and a near no-hitter highlighted the pitching performances in the PSAC last week and garned the respective pitchers this week’s awards as Kutztown’s Nate Reed is the PSAC East Pitcher of the Week after no-hitting Bloomsburg while Mercyhurst’s Ben Rawding is the PSAC West Pitcher of the Week after taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning before finishing with a two-hit shutout of Slippery Rock. Although they were shutout in that game, Slippery Rock was not shutout in this week’s awards as Adam Jury earns the PSAC West Co-Player of the Week award along with Lock Haven’s Mark Strouse. Mansfield’s Mike Hartz is the PSAC East Player of the Week after a remarkable eight-game stretch last week.
PSAC East Player of the Week
Mike Hartz, Mansfield
Junior, 3B
Dauphin, Pa./Central Dauphin
Hartz helped lead Mansfield to a 7-1 week by hitting .517 (15-for-29) with five runs scored, 17 RBI and a .543 on-base percentage. He hit safely in all eight games to extend his current hitting streak to 10 games and had five multi-hit games, including two games with three hits. He also had at least one RBI in seven games, including a career-high six RBI in a 15-11 win over Wilmington. In Mansfield’s four-game sweep of Shippensburg, Hartz hit .615 with a double and six RBI, including a four-RBI game in an 18-7 win in the third game of the series.
PSAC East Pitcher of the Week
Nate Reed, Kutztown
Senior, LHP
Oley, Pa./Oley Valley
Reed hurled the first no-hitter in the PSAC this year and the first for a Kutztown player since 2004 as he blanked Bloomsburg for seven innings in a 13-0 win in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader. Reed struck out nine and walked three in the no-no, retiring the first 10 batters of the game while striking out seven of the first nine hitters. Only one runner made it further than first base in the game, that coming on a wild pitch after a walk. Reed’s performance helped the Golden Bears take three out of four games from the Huskies and remain in a first place tie with West Chester atop the PSAC East standings with one weekend left to play in the regular season.
PSAC West Co-Player of the Week
Mark Strouse, Lock Haven
Senior, OF
Milford, Pa./Delaware Valley
Strouse hit .478 (11-for-23) with three home runs, two doubles, a triple and eight RBI to help Lock Haven to a 5-1 week. He also scored nine runs, slugged at a 1.043 clip and had a .536 on-base percentage. His best game of the week came in the final game of a four-game series sweep of Clarion as he went 4-for-5 with a homer, two RBI and three runs scored.
PSAC West Co-Player of the Week
Adam Jury, Slippery Rock
Junior, SS
Bigler, Pa./Clearfield
Jury hit .556 (10-for-18) with four doubles, a home run, which was a grand slam, eight RBI and six runs scored in a 3-2 week for Slippery Rock. He had a .944 slugging percentage and reached base at a .619 clip. He started the week by going 4-for-6 with two doubles and a pair of RBI in a win over regionally-ranked Seton Hill. Jury then went 6-for-12 with another pair of doubles, a home run, six RBI and five runs in a series split with Mercyhurst. His grand slam highlighted a nine-run sixth inning in the first game of the series that broke open the game and gave The Rock an 11-5 win in the series opener after trailing 5-2 entering the inning.
PSAC West Pitcher of the Week
Ben Rawding, Mercyhurst
Freshman, LHP
Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk
Rawding becomes the fourth different Mercyhurst pitcher to earn the PSAC West Pitcher of the Week award this season after he hurled a complete game, two-hit shutout in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader sweep of Slippery Rock, helping ensure a split of the series for the two teams. The freshman southpaw took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before allowing a bloop single into short left field and would give up one more safety in the inning before retiring the side. He walked two and struck out six in the effort.