Baseball

Wheatcroft, Kim Selected for Weekly Baseball Awards


Stanislaus State school record-setter Chase Wheatcroft and UC San Diego slugger Aaron Kim have been selected as CCAA Pitcher and Player of the Week for Feb. 25-March 3.

Wheatcroft, a senior from Santa Clarita, picked up his second weekly honor in the early-goings of the season after throwing a complete game three-hit shutout in the Warriors' 1-0 series opener against Cal State East Bay. He struck out eight batters and walked two in the pitchers duel with the Pioneers. Adding nine more innings to the tally, Wheatcroft extended his consecutive scoreless innings pitched streak to a Stanislaus State record 27 1/3 innings, which is the most in Division II since 2014 when a Mercyhurst pitcher threw 32 2/3 scoreless innings.

Kim, a redshirt sophomore from Orange, lit up the bats as No. 14 UC San Diego earned a four-game home sweep over Sonoma State. Starting all four games,  with three at catcher and one as the designated hitter, Kim batted .429 (6-14) with four runs, one double, three home runs, 10 RBI and two walks. He slugged 1.143 with 16 total bases, had a .500 on-base percentage, and fielded all 27 chances cleanly behind the plate.

Kim did most of his damage to headline a comfortable 14-3 romp in Friday’s opener, belting a two-run home run in the first inning and a grand slam in the second for his first collegiate two-home-run game and a career-high six RBI in the contest. He added a solo blast in Saturday’s contest while capping the weekend with a two-out, two-run double that gave the Tritons a 7-3 lead in the sixth inning Sunday as the Tritons outscored their opponents 36-10 in the series.

The Warriors are set to take on Cal State Monterey Bay this weekend with the action from Seaside starting on Friday afternoon, while UC San Diego also heads north to face off against San Francisco State.

Also nominated:
Pitchers -
CJ Blowers, Cal State San Bernardino
Jonah Dipoto, UC San Diego
Tristan Garnett, Cal State Dominguez Hills
Players -
Gabe Chavez, Cal State San Bernardino
Jack Large, Stanislaus State
Pearson Loska, Cal State Dominguez Hills
Nick Peifer, Cal Poly Pomona
Trevor Rogers, San Francisco State
 
2019 CCAA Baseball Weekly Awards
Player of the Week Pitcher of the Week
Jan. 28-Feb. 3 Grant Buck, Cal State San Marcos Mike Lopez, Cal State San Marcos
Feb. 4-10 Gabe Chavez, Cal State San Bernardino Rylan Tinsley, Stanislaus State
Feb. 11-17 Austin Ott, Cal State San Marcos Chase Wheatcroft, Stanislaus State
Feb. 18-24 Brian Morley, Cal State Monterey Bay Tim Holdgrafer, Cal Poly Pomona
Feb. 25-March 3 Aaron Kim, UC San Diego Chase Wheatcroft, Stanislaus State