Chadwick named WAC Baseball Hitter of the Week

DENVER – Sam Houston’s Clayton Chadwick and California Baptist’s CJ Culpepper have been named TicketSmarter Western Athletic Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for May 2 – May 8.

Chadwick, a sophomore outfielder from La Vernia, Texas, played a big part in the Bearkats’ three-game sweep of Stephen F. Austin, hitting .667 with a .714 on-base percentage and a 1.444 slugging percentage. In nine at-bats, he totaled nine RBIs, seven runs scored and three of his six hits were for extra bases.

Culpepper, a sophomore right-hander from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., threw a gem against NM State on Saturday, striking out 12 and allowing just three hits over seven innings to earn the complete game shutout. Without allowing a walk, he had a strikeout in each inning pitched, including striking out the side in the third inning.

Other Hitter of the Week nominees: Abilene Christian’s Grayston Tatrow hit his 14th and 15th home runs of the season in the Wildcats’ series win at Tarleton … California Baptist’s Chad Castillo recorded a hit in each game and finished the week hitting .444 for the Lancers … Dixie State’s Tyson Fisher hit .438 on the week, driving in four runs and scoring four times of his own … Grand Canyon’s Tayler Aguilar homered twice in a win at Arizona and then drove in the game-winning run in Sunday’s WAC series finale against Sacramento State … Lamar’s Matthew McDonald hit .533 with eight total hits for the Cardinals … Tarleton’s Kemuel Thomas-Rivera had seven RBIs and hit .583 in the Texans’ three-game series against Abilene Christian … UT Rio Grande Valley’s Bryan Sturges had a career-high five RBIs in a series-clinching win at Lamar … Utah Valley’s Mitch Moralez hit .462 in the Wolverines’ three-game series at Washington State.

Other Pitcher of the Week nominees: Abilene Christian’s Genner Cervantes struck out a career-high 11 batters and allowed two runs on six hits over 5.0 innings to earn the win over Tarleton … Grand Canyon’s Daniel Avitia struck out 14 on Saturday night to earn the win over Sacramento State … Lamar’s Adam Wheaton picked up the win on Saturday against UTRGV, allowing two runs on seven hits with five strikeouts over 7.1 innings … NM State’s Ian Mejia totaled 11 strikeouts in a losing effort at California Baptist on Friday night … Sam Houston’s Lance Lusk earned a pair of saves, posting four strikeouts and one hit allowed over three combined innings … UT Rio Grande Valley’s JC Ariza threw a season-high 6.0 innings, striking out five and earned the win over UTSA … Utah Valley’s Coop Rust threw five innings but didn’t earn the decision in the Wolverines’ 9-7 loss to Washington State on Saturday.