A pair of seniors from UC Santa Barbara and Long Beach State excelled on the Big West baseball landscape to capture weekly honors.
Newell Wears Out Opposing Pitching In 3-1 Week For Gauchos
UC Santa Barbara senior Cameron Newell (Roseburg, Ore./Roseburg HS) batted .647 and recorded four straight multiple hit games to earn Big West Baseball Field Player of the Week honors.
The left fielder generated 11 hits in 17 at-bats as the Gauchos defeated BYU in a single game and took two of three from visiting Kentucky. He also walked twice and had two extra base hits to record a .684 on-base percentage and .882 slugging percentage.
Newell collected three hits in all but one game, beginning the week 3-for-4 with an RBI in UCSB’s 5-4 victory against the Cougars. He led off the Kentucky series with three more hits, including a double, his first career home run and three runs scored to power the Gauchos to a 10-3 win.
Newell touched home plate three more times in Saturday’s 11-0 rout of the Wildcats. He also drove in a pair for the second straight game. Despite a 12-7 loss to Kentucky in the series finale, Newell still could not be stopped as he went 3-for-5 with a runs scored.
Others nominated: Dustin Vaught (Cal State Fullerton); Ryan Raslowsky (CSUN); Zack Rivera (Long Beach State); Nick Lynch (UC Davis); Alex Rubanowitz (UC Riverside); Kaeo Aliviado (Hawai‘i)
Friedrichs Records Double Digit Strikeouts In Second Straight Start
Long Beach State senior Kyle Friedrichs (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente HS) fanned a career-high 12 batters in a Friday night victory over Utah Valley to garner Big West Baseball Pitcher of the Week honors.
The right-hander enjoyed his second straight start with double digit strikeouts as he set down 10 via the whiff the previous week against Michigan.
After the first inning, Friedrichs retired 10 straight Utah Valley batters – eight coming via the strikeout. He ended up going seven innings, allowing four hits and two runs while not issuing a walk.
Friedrichs is the first LBSU pitcher to strike out 10 batters in back-to-back starts since 2008.
Others nominated: Rayne Raven (CSUN); Spencer Koopmans (UC Davis); Keaton Leach (UC Riverside); Dillon Tate (UC Santa Barbara)