UC Irvine senior Ronnie Shaeffer and Pacific junior Cory Popham delivered solid performances at the plate and on the mound to earn selections as Big West Baseball Field Player and Pitcher of the Week.
Shaeffer Helps UC Irvine Take Series From Cal
Senior Ronnie Shaeffer (Garden Grove, Calif./Pacifica HS) batted .474 to help UC Irvine win three of four games from Cal and earn Big West Baseball Field Player of the Week accolades.
Shaeffer had at least one hit and one RBI in the four games, collecting nine hits in 19 at bats and driving in six during the series.
He accounted for the game-winning RBI with a run-scoring single in the seventh to lead the Anteaters to a series-opening 5-3 triumph Friday. The catcher posted his second consecutive 3-for-5 effort at the plate in Saturday's first game of a doubleheader, blasting a home run in an 8-6 loss.
UCI came back to win the doubleheader nightcap in 10 innings, 4-3, and Shaeffer again stepped up. He went 2-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI. With UCI trailing 3-2 in the 10th, Shaeffer delivered an RBI single to tie the game and he came around to score the walk-off run.
On Sunday, Shaeffer had a hit, a sacrifice fly and two RBI as the Anteaters throttled the Bears, 9-1.
Shaeffer leads the team in average (.469) and RBI (9) to help UCI start the season 6-1.
Others nominated: Denver Chavez (Cal Poly); Michael Lorenzen (Cal State Fullerton); Cal Vogelsang (Cal State Northridge); Jeff McNeil (Long Beach State); Paul Politi (UC Davis); Tyger Pederson (Pacific)
Popham Blanks UNLV For First Career Division I Win
Pacific junior Cory Popham notched Big West Baseball Pitcher of the Week accolades as he hurled a complete game shutout against UNLV.
The 6-2 right-hander used 116 pitches to tame the Rebel lineup, helping the Tigers win 3-0 in a one hour and 44 minute game at the Pacific Baseball Invitational. Popham scattered five hits and walked just one while striking out five.
Popham seldom faced trouble in his outing, but responded well when he did. In one situation, he had a runner on and first base open, opting to softly plunk a batter to conserve pitch count and time to set up a better matchup with the player in the on-deck circle. The strategy worked as he induced a comebacker to end any potential UNLV rally.
Only two runners reached third base the entire game – both with two outs.
Others nominated: Joey Wagman (Cal Poly); Grahamm Wiest (Cal State Fullerton); Josh Goossen-Brown (Cal State Northridge); Jon Maciel (Long Beach State); Andrew Morales (UC Irvine); Dylan Stuart (UC Riverside); Scott Squier (Hawai’i)