Mid-American Conference

MAC Baseball Player of the Week
Rudy Rott, Ohio, INF 
Senior, Holmen, Wis. (La Crosse Aquinas)   
Rott was crucial in Ohio clinching the No. 6 seed in the Mid-American Conference Tournament. Rott hit two home runs in Ohio's final game, a must win contest for Ohio to continue their season. Rott had four RBI in the win. Rott had a total of 12 RBI last week, including three in Ohio's series opening win over WMU and five in Ohio's midweek game against Marshall. Rott had a multi-hit game in every contest this week and added two doubles to his two home runs. Rott had an impressive slugging percentage of 1.000 and reached base in a .579 clip.
 
MAC Baseball Co-Pitchers of the Week
Brett Manis, Ohio, LHP         
Sophomore, Port Huron, Mich. (Port Huron Northern)      
Manis played a crucial role in both of Ohio's must win games over WMU. In Ohio's first win of the series, Manis tossed 3.0 innings and fanned four batters to get his first win of the season. Manis then got the hold in the MAC Tournament spot clinching win on Saturday, tossing a season-long 4.1 innings and striking out a season-best seven batters.
 
Brady Miller, Western Michigan, RHP
Freshman, Plainfield, Ill. (Plainfield North) 
In game two against Ohio, freshman RHP Brady Miller was lights out on the mound, recording his first career complete game, allowing one run on just eight hits. Miller became the first Bronco since Keegan Akin in 2016 to toss a complete game. Of Miller’s eight hits given up, none were for extra-bases while the freshman right-handed pitcher issued zero walks in 32 batters faced. Miller won his third straight start and improved his overall record to 5-2 and lowered his ERA to a team-best 3.10. Miller ranks second in the MAC in victories among freshman and leads all freshman in the MAC with a conference record of 5-1. In his past three starts, Miller is 3-0 with a 1.19 ERA with 14 strikeouts in 22.2 innings pitched.

Other Nominees

William Baker, Ball State, 2B
Junior, Kansas City, Mo.       
Baker hit .500 and scored 7 runs as Ball State finished the regular season by sweeping Toledo. He went 3-for-5 and scored 3 runs in BSU's 10-1 win on Thursday and also added a 2-for-4 game Saturday with 3 more runs. He hit a pair of doubles, a triple and stole 3 bases as the Cardinals went 3-0.

Jordan Patty, Central Michigan, RHP 
Sophomore, Midland, Mich. (Midland)         
Patty turned in one of his most impressive starts of the season this past week helping the Chippewas extend their win streak to 15 games and secure the 2019 Mid-American Conference Regular Season Championship. With the MAC title on the line, the Midland, Mich., native drew the start in Saturday's 10-3 victory over Miami to help CMU seal it's first conference crown since 2015. Patty worked 6 2/3 innings on the mounds allowing just five hits,  one unearned run, and four strikeouts to earn the victory.

Griffin Lockwood-Powell, Central Michigan, C        
Sophomore, Sioux Falls, S.D. (Sioux Falls Lincoln)   
Lockwood-Powell capped off an outstanding regular season this past week helping the Chippewas extend their win streak to 15 games and claim the 2019 Mid-American Conference Regular Season Title. The Sioux Falls, S.D., native finished the week batting at a .375 clip with, six hits, three doubles and and six RBI's. In Tuesday's 10-2 non-conference home victory over Michigan State, Lockwood-Powell went 3-of-4 at the dish including a double and a walk. In Thursday's 6-2 game one victory over Miami, Lockwood-Powell finished 2-of-5 with two RBI and also gunned down a would-be base stealer behind the plate. In game two, he went 1-of-3 at the plate with four RBI's in the 11-4 win. Lockwood-Powell finished the regular season as the MAC leader in runs batted in (68) and second in home runs (10).

Caleb Hester, Eastern Michigan, LHP
Redshirt Junior, Coloma, Mich. (Coloma)      
Hester was strong on the mound in two appearances for Eastern Michigan, in its games against Kent State, May 17-18. The southpaw allowed just one hit and one run (unearned) over 2.1 innings of work, issuing only one free pass and striking out two along the way. In addition to a compiling a WHIP of 0.952, opposing batters hit just .143 against Hester on the week. 
 
?Zachary Owings, Eastern Michigan, Infielder          
Junior, Saline, Mich. (Saline)
Owings led the Eastern Michigan offense in its three games against Kent State University, May 16-18, at Oestrike Stadium. EMU’s best offensive weapon, Owings compiled a .417 batting average, collecting five hits in twelve at-bats, including two doubles. The third-year led Eastern with seven total bases and tied the team-lead with three RBIs on the week. Additionally, Owings stole two bases in the series against Kent State, the most of any Eagle.

Luke Albright, Kent State, RHP          
Freshman, Fishers, Ind. (Fishers)       
Albright dazzled in just his second start of his rookie campaign, spinning five scoreless innings to improve to 4-1 in Kent State's first shutout of the season. He allowed just three Eagles to reach base with two hits and a walk while fanning six. He led the Blue and Gold to its first combined two-hitter since 2017. In conference play, Albright led the MAC in ERA (1.47) and opposing batting average (.167).
 
Ben Carew, Kent State, OF   
R-So., Appleton, Wis. (Kimberly)
 Carew has been an offensive spark at the top of the Kent State lineup and hit at a .526 clip through four games last week. Collecting 10 hits, the Appleton, Wis. native slugged .579 and posted a .550 on-base percentage while also swiping four bases. Carew closed out a stellar regular season with a .414 batting average, becoming the first Golden Flash to post a batting average over .400 since 2001. Nationally, he ranks in the top-20 in batting average, hits and hits per game. Overall, he led the MAC in both batting average and hits (87) and ranked 2nd in on-base percentage (.481), 3rd in both runs scored (58) and stolen bases (24), and 8th in both slugging percentage (.534) and total bases (113). In conference play, he led the MAC in batting average (.435), runs scored (34) and hits (47) and ranked 2nd in stolen bases (12), 3rd in on-base percentage (.504), 5th in total bases (66) and 7th in slugging percentage (.611).
 
Nate Thomas, Northern Illinois, Pitcher        
Junior, South Bend, Ind. (Mishawaka Marian)          
Thomas earned his fifth save of the season on Friday, throwing three scoreless innings to close the door on a 7-5 NIU win over Bowling Green. Thomas allowed two hits and a walk while tying a season-high with three strikeouts.

Nick Drobushevich, Northern Illinois, OF     
Freshman, Moline, Ill. (Moline)
Drobushevich was 4-for-11 this week with three RBI in three games against Milwaukee and Bowling Green. The freshman capped the regular season by going 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored in NIU's 7-5 come-from-behind win over Bowling Green on Friday. He also had a pair of stolen bases this week.

Nate Grys, Western Michigan, LF     
Senior Sterling Heights, Mich. (Bishop Foley)         
In 12 at-bats over the weekend vs. Ohio, Nate Grys had three home runs and five RBIS while recording a .333 batting average with a staggering 1.083 slugging percentage and a .385 on-base percentage. In the series opener on Thursday against the Bobcats, Grys registered his third career two-home run game, going 2-for-4 with two home runs, two runs scored and three RBIs. Grys followed up his performance by going 1-for-3 with a home run, one RBI and two runs scored in a 7-1 victory over Ohio on Friday. Grys’ registered an RBI and a hit in each game of the three-game series while striking out just three times in 12 at-bats. Grys moved into fourth place on WMU’s career home runs list, finishing with 24 for his career.