UC Santa Barbara junior Brett Vertigan and UC Irvine junior Kyle Hooper were outstanding for their respective teams in earning Big West Baseball Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively.
Vertigan A Difficult Out As UC Santa Barbara Finishes 2-2 For Week
Brett Vertigan (Garden Grove, Calif./Saddleback JC) reached base 14 times in 20 plate appearances to spark the UC Santa Barbara offense in a performance that garnered him Big West Baseball Player of the Week accolades.
The outfielder posted four consecutive multi-hit games and led the Gauchos with a .667 (12 for 18) average at the dish. Vertigan also scored seven runs, walked twice and stole three bases as part of UCSB’s 2-2 week.
In a 7-1 victory over Fresno State, Vertigan went 3-for-5 with a run scored. He had a perfect 4-for-4 effort with four runs, a pair of doubles and three stolen bases to lead the Gauchos in a 10-2 win versus Loyola Marymount on Saturday. One of his four runs scored accounted for the game-winner.
In the other two games of the LMU series, Vertigan collected two and three hits, respectively. He had a game-tying RBI single in the rubber game of the series.
Others nominated: Nick Torres (Cal Poly); Michael Lorenzen (Cal State Fullerton); Miles Williams (Cal State Northridge); Brett Morgan (UC Davis); Connor Spencer (UC Irvine)
Hooper Hurls Complete Game Gem For UC Irvine
Kyle Hooper (Saugus, Calif./Saugus HS) tossed a complete game four-hit shutout for UC Irvine at the QTI Baylor Invitational to capture Big West Baseball Pitcher of the Week accolades.
Hooper threw 103 pitches in UC Irvine’s 17-0 rout of Lamar in the opening game of the tournament. He scattered just four hits while walking just one and striking out a career-high 10 batters.
At one point Hooper retired 16 consecutive batters as he finished the game with his first career complete game shutout.
The junior extended his scoreless streak to 18.2 consecutive innings, which dates back to the 2011 season. Hooper improved to 2-0 and is limiting the opposition to a .123 batting average.
Others nominated: Kyle Anderson (Cal Poly); Kenny Mathews (Cal State Fullerton); Louis Cohen (Cal State Northridge); Anthony Kupbens (UC Davis); Eddie Orozco (UC Riverside); Matt Vedo (UC Santa Barbara); Michael Benson (Pacific)