PSAC Baseball Athletes of the Week – 6
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. --- The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference announced this week’s athletes of the week. From the East, West Chester’s J.R. Gifford and Kutztown’s Zach Male were picked, while in the West, Slippery Rock’s Alex Robenolt and Kevin Vaupel of Seton Hill were selected.
Eastern Division Athlete of the Week
West Chester
J.R. Gifford
Catcher
Senior
Doylestown, Pa. / Archbishop Wood
J.R. Gifford had an outstanding week for West Chester this week as the senior catcher proved to be difficult for opposing pitchers to manage throughout the week, ending his week with five hits (four-extra base hits), 10 RBI, four runs scored, three walks and a stolen base, helping West Chester go 4-1 overall and 3-1 in league action. In his first action of the week against U Sciences, Gifford was a constant threat for West Chester, hitting a pair of home runs in back-to-back at bats, hitting a solo shot in the fifth before hitting a grand slam in the sixth inning, ending his day 2-for-5 at the plate with two home runs, five RBI, and two runs scored. On Friday afternoon against Mansfield, Gifford nearly clubbed his third home run of the week on two separate occasions but registered a double instead in both cases, ending his day with three RBI and two runs scored after also working a walk in the victory over the Mountaineers to open the three-game weekend series. At Mansfield on Sunday, Gifford was 1-for-4 in the first game of the day with two RBI and a run scored after registering a two-RBI single in the fourth inning of the first game of the day. In the second game of the afternoon, Gifford worked a pair of walks and stole a base as he continued to be a problem for opposing pitchers and catchers. Gifford ended his week with a .333 batting average, .867 slugging percentage and a .444 on-base percentage as he helped lead the WCU offense throughout the week.
Eastern Division Pitcher of the Week
Kutztown
Zach Male
Pitcher
Sophomore
Royersford, Pa. / Spring-Ford
Sophomore right-hander Zach Male threw a complete game shutout last Friday in defeating Lock Haven 1-0. It was his first career complete game. He allowed just three hits and struck out eight, while only walking one and not allowing an extra-base hit. Male threw an efficient 106 pitches in the win.
Western Division Athlete of the Week
Slippery Rock
Alex Robenolt
Outfield
R-Jr.
Danville, Pa. / Danville
Outfielder Alex Robenolt led the Slippery Rock baseball team to a four-game series sweep of Saint Anselm last weekend. Over four games, Robenolt hit .611 (11-for-18) with six runs scored, four home runs and 10 RBI in addition to slugging 1.389. Six of Robenolt’s 11 hits went for extra bases as he also produced a pair of doubles in addition to his four home runs. Robenolt hit safely in all four games with the highlight coming in the form of a 4-for-5, three-run, two-home run, six-RBI, two-double showing as part of a 22-0 win by The Rock in game three of the series.
Western Division Pitcher of the Week
Seton Hill
Kevin Vaupel
Starting Pitcher
Junior
Pittsburgh, Pa. / South Park
Vaupel had a complete game shutout in the Griffins 2-0 win over LeMoyne in non-conference action. Kevin went all seven innings, allowing just four hits while striking out eight and walking one.
ABOUT THE PSAC
Headquartered in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference is an NCAA Division II Conference comprised of 18 institutions in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The member institutions are Bloomsburg University, California University of Pennsylvania, Clarion University, East Stroudsburg University, Edinboro University, Gannon University, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Kutztown University, Lock Haven University, Mansfield University, Mercyhurst University, Millersville University, The University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, Seton Hill University, Shepherd University, Shippensburg University, Slippery Rock University and West Chester University.