UC Irvine junior Taylor Sparks and Cal Poly junior Matt Imhof helped their teams to winning efforts in garnering Big West Baseball Field Player and Pitcher of the Week accolades, respectively.
Sparks Extends Hit Streak In 3-0 Week For Anteaters
Junior Taylor Sparks (Long Beach, Calif./St. John Bosco HS) hit .600 and sported a 1.000 slugging percentage to help UC Irvine finish 3-0, earning Big West Baseball Field Player of the Week honors.
The infielder had a hit in all three victories against USC (6-4) and Gonzaga (1-0 and 11-2). He posted a 3-for-4 effort with a triple, two runs scored and four RBI in the series finale against the Bulldogs. His four RBI was one shy of a career-high. Sparks laced a run-scoring double in the first and he plated an insurance run in the third.
Sparks drove in the game-winning run against the Trojans, helping UCI overcome a 3-0 deficit with a five-run fourth inning. He also singled twice in the 1-0 victory against Gonzaga.
Sparks leads the team with a .340 batting average.
Others nominated: Nick Torres (Cal Poly); Austin Diemer (Cal State Fullerton); Richard Prigatano (Long Beach State); Adam Young (UC Davis); Nick Vilter (UC Riverside); Joey Epperson (UC Santa Barbara); Jordan Richartz (Hawai‘i)
Imhof Sets Career-High For Strikeouts
Cal Poly junior Matt Imhof (Fremont, Calif./Mission San Jose HS) collected his second Big West Baseball Pitcher of the Week award this season as he fanned a career-high 15 batters in a win over Seattle.
The 6-5 southpaw walked three and scattered four hits in leading the Mustangs to a 4-0 shutout victory over the Redhawks in the opening game of a three-game series in the Emerald City. His 15 strikeouts set a program Division I record. Imhof, who struck out 14 batters in the season opener against Kansas State to tie the Cal Poly record, had shared the mark with two others.
Imhof improved to 3-1 on the season and dropped his ERA to 1.33. He has 41 strikeouts in 27 innings pitched.
Others nominated: Thomas Eshelman (Cal State Fullerton); Nick Sabo (Long Beach State); Zach Stone (UC Davis); Andrew Morales (UC Irvine); Jacob Smigelski (UC Riverside); Scott Squier (Hawai‘i)