Broc Mortensen, UC Santa Barbara  Baseball Field Player of the Week  Redshirt Senior • Rightfielder • Ventura, Calif.

• UC Santa Barbara lefty slugger Broc Mortensen slashed .467/.579/1.067 with two home runs and five RBI to lead a three-game sweep at UC San Diego and nab a second career Big West Field Player of the Week award.
• The Gauchos went 3-1 for the road week with a 10-inning Tuesday loss at Pepperdine (4-2), moving back up into a tie for second place in The Big West standings with CSUN at 25-12 overall and 10-5 in league play.
• The native of Ventura went 7-for-15 at the plate with three runs, three doubles, four walks and a key sacrifice bunt. Mortensen had at least one hit in all four games, with a trio of two-hit efforts. Sunday’s two-run home run in the first inning to get UCSB on its way to a sweep-clinching 11-5 victory was the 40th of Mortensen’s Gaucho career. Matt Wilkerson owns the program’s all-time record with 42 from 2002-05.
• Starting all four games in right field, Mortensen made 10 clean putouts without an error defensively.
• The third-year Gaucho who previously spent time at Cuesta College (2019-20) and as a football player at Cal Poly (2017-18), was voted to the All-Big West Second Team in both 2021 and 2022.
• Mortensen’s first Big West Field Player of the Week honor came on March 22, 2021. This is UC Santa Barbara’s second selection for 2023, following newcomer Jared Sundstrom back on Feb. 27.

Also Nominated:  Michael Fuhrman (UC San Diego); Dub Gleed (UC Irvine); Alex Gouveia (UC Davis); Joey Kramer (CSUN); Nate Nankil (Cal State Fullerton); Zach Storbakken (Hawai'i)

Randy Abshier, Hawai'i  Baseball Pitcher of the Week  Senior • Left-Handed Pitcher • San Diego, Calif.

• Hawai’i senior Randy Abshier was magnificent in twirling a two-hit shutout for a 2-0 home triumph against Long Beach State on Saturday night, earning a first and unanimous Big West Pitcher of the Week honor.
• Abshier scattered two singles, one walk and a hit-by-pitch over the season-high 9.0 innings, striking out a season-best nine batters over the 102-pitch masterpiece.
• It was the first complete game for UH this season, and the first nine-inning shutout in The Big West. Abshier retired the final 10 Dirtbags in order, and faced two runners on base just once, in the second. Logan Pouelsen had the last nine-inning shutout for UH on March 4, 2018.
• The first year ‘Bow who spent the 2019, 2020 and 2021 seasons exclusively as a reliever at Pac-12 powerhouse Arizona, improved to 4-1 while lowering the season ERA from 4.08 to 3.33. Abshier had previous season (and career) highs of 6.0 innings pitched (also shutout) and eight strikeouts in another winning home decision on March 25 versus Tulane.
• The Rainbow Warriors went on to sweep the three-game set to complete a season-long nine-game home stand at 6-3. They are 5-1 for Abshier’s last six starts, with the southpaw 4-0 with two no decisions.
• Abshier is UH’s second Big West Pitcher of the Week selection for 2023, joining fellow left-hander Harry Gustin from March 27.

Also Nominated: Danny Carrion (UC Davis); Ryan Forucci (UC San Diego); Barrett Hudson (UC Santa Barbara); Xavier Martinez (CSUN); Michael Stanford (UC Irvine)
 

2023 Big West Baseball Weekly Winners