Chris Valaika earns UC Santa Barbara's first Big West Player of the Week honor, while 49er Andrew Carpenter grabs Big West Pitcher of the Week for his fourth time this season, for the week ending May 7.

Valaika, blasted a three-run home run in the seventh inning of Saturday's game to give the Gauchos the 4-2 lead before contributing a two-run single in the eighth. UC Santa Barbara would eventually go on to down No. 4 Cal State Fullerton 8-2. In Sunday's matchup with the Titans, the Valencia, Calif., native posted the game-tying single, at 4-4, in the seventh with two outs. The Titans would go on to win that game 7-5. The junior shortstop had a direct play in 10 of the Gauchos' 16 runs on the series against No. 4 Cal State Fullerton. For the week he went 5-for-14 with two runs and eight RBI.

Leading the league with four weekly honors this season is junior 49er Andrew Carpenter. He evened the series with Cal Poly with his impressive performance on the mound. In Saturday's showdown with the Mustangs, Carpenter pitched a complete-game shutout, in which he allowed just one walk and recorded eight strikeouts. Long Beach State would go on to defeat Cal Poly, 7-0, and tie the series at 1-1. The Vacaville, Calif., moves to 7-2 on the season.