Joey Centanni, Daniel Renken and Ryan Goetz led their respective teams to wins over top 25 opponents to secure this week’s Big West Player/Pitcher of the Week honors, for the week ending March 1. Centanni and Renken were named Big West Co-Pitcher of the Week after stellar outings on the mound, while Goetz garnered player of the week accolades.
Centanni and Renken mirrored each other’s performances with a 1.29 ERA in 7.0 innings pitched. Centanni led the Pacific Tigers to a 14-6 win at San Diego, while Renken guided the Cal State Fullerton Titans to a 8-1 home victory versus Stanford.
Against 21 San Diego batters, Centanni induced two batters to ground into double plays, while allowing the Toreros to hit only .190. The San Diego, Calif., native conceded just four hits in the second contest of the USD Tournament. Throughout the rest of the four-game event, the southpaw played either first base, center field or at the designated hitter position.
Renken snapped Stanford's five-game winning streak in the opening game of the weekend series with a seven inning, five-hit effort. The Cypress, Calif., native allowed just one earned run while fanning seven and faced just three over the minimum to earn his first win of the season.
UC Riverside is off to its second best start in Division I history, thanks in part to a 4-1 week that was headlined by Ryan Goetz. The junior third baseman went 7-for-18 and registered five runs and seven RBI. In the first game of the week against nationally-ranked UCLA, Goetz had his most impressive outing with three runs and two RBI. In the final game of the four-game series against San Francisco, the Temple City, Calif., native blasted a home run and drove in three.
Other pitchers nominated: Matt Leonard (Cal Poly), Crosby Slaught (UC Irvine), Mike Ford (UC Santa Barbara)
Other players nominated: Luke Yoder (Cal Poly), Khris Davis (Cal State Fullerton), Ryan Pineda (Cal State Northridge), Ryan Platt (UC Riverside), DJ Crumlich (UC Irvine), Ryan Cavan (UC Santa Barbara), Nick Longmire (Pacific).