Mustang Jimmy Van Ostrand dominated at the plate, while UC Irvine's Blair Erickson moved up the ranks in the Big West record book to earn Big West Baseball Player and Pitcher of the Week honors, for the week ending March 19. This is the first award of the season for both athletes.

In Cal Poly's first two games against No. 25 Washington, Jimmy Van Ostrand (Richmond, British Columbia) blasted four homeruns and drove in 10. His power at the plate elevated the Mustangs to two wins over the nationally-ranked Huskies. He went 4-for-7 (.571), with all four hits being home runs.

In the first game, Washington jumped to a 4-0 lead in the first two innings. Van Ostrand hit a three-run shot to center field in the third inning and snapped a 4-4 tie with a solo home run in the eighth. On Sunday, the 6-4 senior hit a three-run homer to center field to give Cal Poly a 3-0 lead before the first out of the game was recorded. He matched that feat again in the seventh. Van Ostrand currently leads the Big West with 10 home runs and 31 RBI in 23 games this season.

All-American reliever Blair Erickson (Fair Oaks, Calif.) recorded two saves and a win to help the UC Irvine Anteaters go 4-0 last week, including a sweep over Oral Roberts. With the two saves, Erickson became No. 2 in the Big West in career saves, amassing 35 saves and passing former Cal State Fullerton standout Chad Cordero.

The right-handed pitcher also picked up a win to improve to 3-0 this season. For the week he pitched 5.1 shutout innings, giving up just one hit and striking out seven, which included matching a career-high four strikeouts against Oral Roberts on Saturday. In the game against Loyola Marymount, Erickson entered with the tying run on deck, with no outs, and yielded just one hit.