Leading the UC Riverside Highlanders to a win over a top 25 team, as well as hitting a grand slam to take a conference series, earned D.J. Hollingsworth Big West Player of the Week, for the week ending May 14. On the mound, Pacific's Steve Spurgeon tossed a complete game in the 4-1 over UC Irvine and recorded another win earlier in the week to receive the Big West Pitcher of the Week honors. This is the first honor of the season for both athletes.
The junior outfielder hit .429 and reached base in all four games to help UC Riverside to a 3-1 record for the week. In the 5-3 win over No. 20 Pepperdine, he scored the tying run in the seventh, one of two runs on the day. On Saturday, Hollingsworth went 2-for-3 with two doubles and two walks in the 8-5 victory over Cal State Northridge. The Tracy, Calif., native closed the week with a 3-for-5 effort, which included his first career grand slam to claim the series win over the Matadors. It was Hollingsworth's team-leading fifth home run of the year.
He added two stolen bases to improve to 20 steals on the year, placing him in a two-way tie for third in the Big West. Hollingsworth was walked five times on the week and posted a slugging percentage of .786 and an on-base percentage of .579.
Spurgeon went 2-0 last week with an ERA of .690 in 13 innings pitched. He allowed just one run in his first start of the season against UC Irvine on Sunday, May 14. The Stockton, Calif., native pitched a complete game to lead the Tigers to a 4-1 win over the Anteaters. Spurgeon needed just 118 pitches as he gave up just one run on five hits. His eight strikeouts are a Pacific career-high for the right-hander.
Earlier in the week against Sacramento State, Spurgeon picked up his second win of the season, tossing four innings of hitless relief. He entered the game with the Tigers trailing 7-3 in the top of the sixth inning, but managed to hold the Hornets scoreless the rest of the game as Pacific mounted a five-run comeback to defeat Sacramento State, 8-7. For the week, he recorded 13 strikeouts, walked just three batters and picked up two wins.