After six weeks of play, the Lone Star Conference baseball season continues as Incarnate Word sits at the top of the league with a 13-5 record. Southwestern Oklahoma is not far behind posting a 15-6 league mark.
LSC baseball teams are 171-152 overall this season. Combined the squads are currently 13-13 versus Heartland Conference teams and 5-2 against the Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletics Association, which are the other two conferences in the NCAA South Central Region.
QUICK HITS
• Cameron’s Kenny Held hit three home runs in a win over Augustana (March 22) to tie the single game LSC and school records.
• Eastern New Mexico’s Mitch Wolfe hit two home runs with a grand slam and two-run shot in the victory over Texas A&M-Kingsville (March 19) to mark the first grand slam and multi-home run game by a Greyhound since he accomplished the feat last April.
• Southwestern Oklahoma defeated top-ranked and previously unbeaten Emporia State, 18-9, for their 19th victory in the last 21 games.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
HITTERS
Mitch Wolfe, Eastern New Mexico University, JR, First Base, Litchfield Park, Ariz., Agua Fria HS
Wolfe led the Greyhounds to a Lone Star Conference series win over Texas A&M-Kingsville, last week, leading ENMU in nearly every category. He had multiple hits in all three games, including a four-for-five performance with three runs, three doubles and a run batted in, during the series-opening win. In the series finale, he homered twice, including a grand slam, for six RBIs. The performance marked both the first grand slam and multi-home run game by a Greyhound since he accomplished the feat last April against Central Oklahoma.
Kenny Held, Cameron University, SR, OF, Tuscon, Ariz.
Held had a dominate week from the plate as the Aggies went 4-3 on the week and returned to the national rankings. On the week, Held finished with a .391 batting average and was 9-of-23 from the plate. However, perhaps more strikingly, of Held’s nine hits, six were home runs while the other three consisted of a pair of doubles and a triple. In Tuesday’s second game versus Augustana, he had three home runs to tie the single game LSC and school records. He drove in 12 runs for the week with a massive 1.348 slugging percentage to lead the Aggies in both categories. His .500 on base percentage was also tops on the team. The Tuscon, Ariz., native also got the start in the fourth game of the AC series, tossing four innings while giving up just two hits. The primary right fielder had a perfect fielding percentage on the week.
PITCHERS
James Rhodes, Cameron University, JR, RHP, Weatherford, Okla.
Rhodes turned in a performance this week for the Aggies that solidified him as one of the top staff pitchers for Head Coach Todd Holland. Rhodes picked up a victory on the week against LSC rival Southwestern Oklahoma and then came on to shut down Augustana in the final inning of the game with CU clinging to a one point lead. For the week, his 1.50 ERA was tops of all credited pitchers and his eight strikeouts tied for a team-best. Batters were unable to catch up to any of Rhodes’ stuff and his just .174 off him on the week.
Chris Rogers, Southwestern Oklahoma State University, JR, P, Oklahoma City, Okla., NOC-Enid
Rogers came on in the second inning of Southwestern Oklahoma’s second game with Cameron University after the Aggies had scored eight runs against the two previous Bulldog pitchers. Rogers got out of the second allowing only one more run and then went on to pitch the remaining seven and one-thirds innings. He allowed just five hits and gave up one more run, a solo homer in the eighth, to pick up his first win of the year as SWOSU came back from a 6-0 hole.