Kent State Sweeps Weekly Baseball Accolades
MAC Player of the Week
Tim DalPorto, Kent State, C
Senior, Chicago (Nazareth Academy)
DalPorto smacked two three-run home runs in two home games for the first place Golden Flashes. He also hit a two-run shot down the left field line on Saturday as KSU swept a three-game series from Bowling Green. He featured an on-base percentage of .615 and slugged 1.500. DalPorto also caught all five games last week and called the pitches for a staff which produced a weekend ERA of 1.00. He is now hitting .315 on the season with 7 home runs and a team-high 45 RBIs.
MAC Pitcher of the Week
Joey Murray, Kent State, RHP
R-Junior, Dublin, Ohio - Coffman
Murray won his eighth game of the season on Friday night with another dominating performance. He tossed seven shutout innings and struck out 14. He is now among the national leaders in both strikeouts (117) and ERA (1.02). Against the Falcons, Murray allowed just four hits in his seven innings and held BG to a .174 batting average. He has now recorded double digit strikeouts in six of his last eighth starts.
Other Nominees
Drey Jameson, Ball State, RHP
Freshman, Greenfield, Ind. (Greenfield Central HS)
Jameson struck out a personal-high 12 batters in the 15-1 win over Ohio on May 6. He is 5-0 with a 1.77 ERA in seven MAC starts. League opponents are hitting just .181 against Jameson
Jeff Riedel, Ball State, OF
R-Sr., Cookeville, Tenn. (Cookeville HS)
Ridel hit safely in all four games and extended his hitting streak to a team season-high 15 games. He had multiple RBIs in three of the four games, including four RBIs in the 11-6 win over Ohio on May 6. Ridel hit a three-run home run to help spark Ball State’s comeback win over Ohio State on May 2. The Cardinals trailed at one point 11-3 before scoring nine straight against the Buckeyes.
Griffin Lockwood-Powell, Central Michigan
DH, R-Freshmam, Sioux Falls, S.D. (Lincoln)
Lockwood-Powell hit .454 and slugged .727 in the Chippewas' three-game series with Eastern Michigan. Lockwood-Powell, CMU's designated hitter, collected five hits including his second grand slam of the season, in 11 at-bats. He drove in eight runs on the weekend.
Luke DeVenney, Eastern Michigan, RHP/OF
Senior, Des Moines, Iowa (Dowling Catholic)
DeVenney had yet another quality start in a 5-2 victory over CMU, May 5. The senior went a career-high 7.2 innings, only allowing two runs on eight hits. He earned his sixth win of the season, moving to 6-1 on the year. It was DeVenney’s 12th start in 12 tries this season in which he has not allowed more than three earned runs in a start. His efforts helped EMU to a 2-1 series win over the Chippewas, their fourth MAC series win of the season. DeVenney’s ERA now sits at 2.61, including 1.67 in MAC-only games.
Tanner Foster, Northern Illinois, Pitcher
Junior. St. Charles, Iowa (Southeastern Community College)
Foster tossed eight solid innings in a no-decision against the University of Toledo May 4. The hard-throwing right-hander struck out a career-high and a Northern Illinois University team-high 12 batters. In addition, he yielded only one walk and one extra base hit while carrying an opponents' batting average of only .172, an NIU pitching staff best for the week. Foster leads the team with 76 strikeouts in 69.2 innings pitched and has given up only five extra base hits this season.
Sam Shutes, Toledo, RHP
Senior, Three Rivers, Mich. (Three Rivers)
Shutes threw seven shutout innings for Toledo in Saturday's 15-0 win over Northern Illinois., earning his MAC-leading eighth win of the season. His performance marked the third time this season he has thrown at least seven scoreless innings against a MAC opponent (8.1 against WMU, 7.0 against CMU) and the fourth time this season he has not allowed a run in a start (threw 6.0 shutout innings against Sacred Heart). Shutes did not allow an extra-base hit against the Huskies. In six of his 12 starts, he has allowed one or fewer extra-base hits. The eight wins for Shutes are the most by a Toledo pitcher since Jeremy Griffiths had 11 in 1999, and he is now fifth all-time in school history with 286.0 career innings pitcher.
Ross Adolph, Toledo, CF
Junior, Findlay, Ohio (Van Buren)
Adolph helped Toledo win its weekend series against Northern Illinois with a team-best six hits and a .714 slugging percentage. He tallied a hit in all three games this weekend, extending his hitting streak to nine games. Adolph was especially prolific in Saturday's 15-0 win over the Huskies. The junior reached base in five of his six at-bats, tying a career-high with four hits and drawing a walk. He drove in three runs, two coming on a double and the other coming on an opposite field, solo home run, his 12th of the season. Adolph leads the MAC in RBIs (46) and slugging (.676).
Nate Grys, Western Michigan, Outfield
Junior, Madison Heights, Mich. (Bishop Foley)
With a .368 batting average, .895 slugging percentage and .455 on-base percentage, Nate Grys helped the Broncos go 2-3 over the week including a victory over Big Ten Conference opponent Northwestern. Grys registered at least one hit in each of the five games played during the week. On Tuesday at Notre Dame, Grys recorded his 12th double of the season, going 1-for-3 with a double and a run scored. Grys had a monster performance on Wednesday against the Wildcats of Northwestern. Grys went 3-for-5 with three runs scored, two home runs (one a grand slam) and seven RBIs to help WMU defeat Northwestern, 26-15. Grys' seven RBIs was two shy of the school record held by Fred Michalski back in 1963. Grys became the first Bronco to hit two home runs in a game this season while his grand slam was the first for WMU since 2016. Grys continued his hot streak on Friday against Miami, blasting a home run for the second straight game, going 1-for-5 with two RBIs and a run scored. Over the weekend against the RedHawks, Grys had a batting average of .273 with .545 slugging percentage. Overall, Grys leads WMU in doubles (12), home runs (8), RBIs (40), total bases (78) and slugging percentage (.595).
