Photo Credit: School Files
FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
NEW ORLEANS – WKU’s Wade Gaynor and UALR’s Jake Sullivan are this week’s Sun Belt Conference Baseball Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, as voted on by the league’s member institutions.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – WADE GAYNOR, WKU
Junior / Third Base
Hawesville, Kentucky
Wade Gaynor keyed the Hilltoppers offensive onslaught this week, going 9-for-19 for a .474 batting average and slugging 1.000 in five games. WKU’s offense erupted for 71 runs in just 36.0 innings this week, registering a 4-1 record. Gaynor had multiple hits in four of the five games this week, leading off with a 2-for-4 performance at Vanderbilt, with a double, one run scored, and two RBI. In the Hilltoppers doubleheader against Albany on Friday, Gaynor was 4-for-8 with six runs scored, two RBI, two walks, one double, and one triple and followed in Sunday’s shortened doubleheader (playing on 12.0 total innings), with a 3-for-7 performance at the plate with four RBI, three runs scored, and two home runs. Gaynor recorded a .565 on-base percentage and finished with eight RBI and 10 runs scored.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK – JAKE SULLIVAN, UALR
Junior / Pitcher
Little Rock, Arkansas
Jake Sullivan led UALR to a 5-0 win over Valparaiso in the series opener by striking out 11 Crusaders over 6.1 scoreless innings. The 6-5 lefty surrendered just five hits, limiting Valpo to a .136 batting average, and struck out seven in-a-row from the third through the fifth inning. Sullivan (2-0) has opened the 2009 season with 14.0 scoreless innings. He sports a perfect 0.00 ERA on the year and has racked up 16 strikeouts in 14.0 innings of work, while holding opposing hitters to a .146 batting average. He is currently tied atop the league standings with his unblemished ERA and 2-0 record.
