MAC Announces Weekly Baseball Honors

MAC West Division Baseball Pitcher of the Week
Corey Chaffins, Eastern Michigan, Junior
New London, Ohio (New London)
Chaffins (2-0) was stellar on the mound for the Eagles versus Jacksonville State, March 12, earning his second victory of the season after going six and two-thirds innings and giving up five runs on six hits on 125 pitches, while tying a season-high in strikeouts with eight, to help the Eagles claim a 10-8 win.

MAC East Division Baseball Pitcher of the Week
Pierre Miville-Deschenes, Buffalo, Senior
Candiac, Quebec (Paris CC)
Miville-Deschenes pitched the second complete game of his career, leading the Bulls to a 9-3 victory over Tennessee Tech. In the victory, Miville-Deschenes allowed only five hits while striking out six batters.

MAC East Division Baseball Player of the Week
Adam Weisenburger, Miami, Catcher
Junior, Plymouth, Minn. (Benilde-St. Margaret's)
Weisenburger had a stellar four games in Florida, starting all four at catcher while batting .727 (8-of-11) with five extra-base hits to help Miami to a 4-0 week. He had a pair of multi-RBI and multi-hit games on the week, including a 4-for-5 performance against Indiana Saturday, when he also scored four runs and drove in three while coming a triple shy of the cycle. The four hits tied a career high while the four runs scored marked a career best. For the week, Weisenburger belted a pair of home runs, giving him three on the year, and smacked a trio of doubles to help him to a 1.545 slugging percentage. He finished the week with 10 runs scored and seven RBI with 17 total bases. He earned six walks and did not strike out once to give him a .737 on-base percentage for the week. The junior added a pair of sac flies during the four games and made 28 putouts without an error.

MAC West Division Baseball Player of the Week
Billy Anderson, Central Michigan, Outfield
Senior, Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. (Sault Area )
Anderson went 8-for-15 last week, smacking three doubles and a home run while scoring five runs and driving in two. He posted an OPS of 1.565 and went 1-for-2 in stolen base attempts.

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Other Nominees
Scott Brothers Jr., Ball State, Senior
Monticello, Ind. (Gulf Coast CC)
Brothers Jr. turned in two scoreless relief appearances on the week, including earning the victory over Lipscomb as he tossed 4.0 scoreless innings of relief. Brothers also turned in 3.0 scoreless innings against the College of Charleston.

Kolbrin Vitek, Ball State, 2B
Junior, Bryan, Ohio (Bryan)
Vitek posted a .458 batting average (11-of-24) in the Cardinals' six-game week and a .517 on-base percentage. Vitek drove in six runs and scored four runs on the week. He posted hits in all six games, including multiple-hit efforts in all three games over the weekend against Michigan, Lipscomb and Illinois. He raised his batting average to a team-high .418 on the season as he leads the team with 28 hits, 18 runs and 16 RBI.

Kevin Leady, Bowling Green, Senior
Luckey, Ohio (Eastwood)
Had a career high in IP and K in his start versus Butler (3/8). Picked off two runners on base during that start...threw longer than any Falcon pitcher during the tournament threw seven scoreless innings after giving up his lone run in the first inning against Butler. Opponents hit .222 against him in his start. Against Butler's 6-9 hitters, Leady allowed only two hits (12 ABs) and struck out four batters

Jon Berti, Bowling Green, SS
Sophomore, Troy, Mich. (Troy High School)
Had three or more hits in three of the four games he played in at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational...in the lone game that he had less than three hits, he went 2-2 and was hit by a pitch...had an on-base percentage of .714 on the weekend, reaching base 15 of the possible 21 times he took to the plate...had four singles and scored three times in the Falcons 16-10 win over Sacred Heart (3/9)

Rick Dodridge, Central Michigan, Sophomore
West Branch, Mich. (Ogemaw Heights)
Rick Dodridge tossed a complete-game six-hitter against Stetson last week, losing a 1-0 pitcher's duel. He struck out four and walked three.

Ken Battiston, Eastern Michigan, Outfield
Junior, West Milton, Ohio (Milton Union)
Battiston had a solid weekend series at Jacksonville State, March 12-14, as he went 6-for-13 (.462 batting average) with six runs scored, two RBI, and two stolen bases.

Anthony Gallas, Kent State , OF
Senior, Strongsville, Ohio (Strongsville)
Gallas broke out of a slump in a big way this weekend with five hits (four of which were for extra bases) in 14 at-bats. In Friday's game, he blasted a grand slam while in game one Saturday, he went 4-for-5 with three doubles. With three more walks this weekend (112 career), Gallas is only nine free passes away from setting a new Kent State record in career walks.

Joe Neff, Miami, Sophomore
Carmel, Ind. (Carmel)
Neff earned his first collegiate win in his first career decision Tuesday against Lehigh, as he pitched six innings of relief and limited the Mountain Hawks to just one hit while allowing no runs with three strikeouts. The six innings of work were by far a career long while the three strikeouts tied a career high. After Lehigh scored three runs in the first inning, Neff entered in the second frame and faced just one batter over the minimum (19 batters faced) in his six innings of work. The Mountain Hawks hit just .056 against Neff in the game, his only appearance of the week.

Andy Deain, Northern Illinois, Senior
Crystal Lake, Ill. (Prairie Ridge)
Deain lowered his ERA by 3.57 points (6.75 to 3.18) over 4 scoreless appearances.

Troy White, Northern Illinois, 3B
Sophomore, Chicago, Ill. (Whitney Young)
White is on a eight-game hit streak. During that stretch, White started all eight games, is 13-for-33 (.394) with three RBI and two runs scored... White went 4-for-5 with an RBI against Cal Poly on Tuesday, March 9.. White was 13-for-37 (.351) on NIU's California Spring Break road trip (3-6) and raised his season batting average (.250) over 160 points.

Ben Trimbur, Ohio, Junior
Gahanna, Ohio (Gahanna Lincoln/Butler University)
Trimbur made appearances in three of Ohio's four games this week and recorded a team-best 2.57 ERA. He yielded two runs in seven innings of work with three strikeouts and just one walk.

Gauntlett Eldemire, Ohio, OF
Junior, Shaker Heights, Ohio (University School)
Eldemire recorded a team-best .571 batting average and .857 slugging percentage and faced one of the best pitching staffs (Vanderbilt) in the nation in three of his four games this week. He also had a team-high 12 total bases and a .647 on-base percentage. In the outfield, the preseason All-American went errorless in 14 chances.