The Long Beach State duo of Clayton Andrews and Zak Baayoun were honored as Big West Players of the Week for their performances in a baseball showdown with rival Cal State Fullerton.
CLAYTON ANDREWS, LONG BEACH STATE – FIELD PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior • OF • Rohnert Park, Calif. • Cabrillo College
➜ Long Beach State junior Clayton Andrews led his squad to a series victory on the road against rival Cal State Fullerton as this week’s Big West Baseball Field Player of the Week designee.
➜ The outfielder batted .500 (6-for-12) in four games overall, reaching base multiple times in each outing. He finished with a .625 on-base percentage for the week.
➜ Andrews provided the big hit in Sunday’s 3-1 win over the Titans. His two-run triple in the eighth inning broke a scoreless deadlock.
➜ He tripled in all three games of the series at Goodwin Field. His three-bagger in the eighth allowed him to come out on a squeeze bunt in an eventual 5-2 triumph.
➜ Andrews scored three runs and drove in three while walking three times and stealing a base.
➜ The left-hander started on the mound for the Dirtbags in Sunday’s win. He lasted a career-best 7.2 innings, yielding just one run while fanning six. He finished the game in center field.
Others nominated: Bradlee Beesley (Cal Poly); Daniel Cope (Cal State Fullerton); Ryan Fitzpatrick (UC Irvine); Tommy Jew (UC Santa Barbara); Johnny Weeks (Hawai‘i)
ZAK BAAYOUN, LONG BEACH STATE – PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Sophomore • LHP • Irvine, Calif. • Woodbridge HS
➜ Long Beach State sophomore Zak Baayoun earned his second Big West Baseball Pitcher of the Week award this season as he stymied rival Cal State Fullerton in the opener of a three-game non conference series.
➜ The southpaw turned in a dominant performance over a career-best 8.0 innings of work on Friday. He scattered just three hits, allowed one unearned run, walked one and struck out eight as the Dirtbags won 5-2.
➜ Baayoun retired 10 straight Titans on two separate occasions and collected six 1-2-3 innings in his eight frames on the hill.
➜ The lone run he allowed came on a pair of singles that didn’t leave the infield, topped off by a throwing error from the second baseman.
➜ Baayoun is now 4-0 with a 0.61 ERA in the opening game of a series, striking out 37 in 29.1 innings pitched in those four starts.
Others nominated: Andrew Quezada (Cal State Fullerton); Andre Pallante (UC Irvine); Jack Dashwood (UC Santa Barbara); Jeremy Yelland (Hawai‘i)