MAC Baseball Player of the Week
Will Vogelgesang, Miami, Second Base
Senior, Cincinnati, Ohio (Archbishop McNicholas)
Vogelgesang had a huge series in leading Miami to a sweep of Purdue Fort Wayne. He went 7-for-12 (.583) at the plate, with two walks for an on-base percentage of .600. Of his seven hits, three were for extra bases (one triple and two home runs). He finished with a 1.250 slugging percentage for the week. Vogelgesang's best performance came on Sunday in an 18-8 win over the Mastodons. He went 3-for-4 with two walks and a home run. He drove in four RBIs and scored an impressive five runs. Playing second base in all three games, Vogelgesang had a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage, recording seven putouts and nine assists.
MAC Baseball Co-Pitchers of the Week
Ryan Lane, Kent State, Pitcher
R-Sophomore, New London Ohio
Lane was absolutely dominant for the Golden Flashes in the series finale against Florida Gulf Coast. Lane went 8.1 innings, allowing just three hits, no walks and struck out 10 in the 4-0 victory. After a double in the first, Lane then sent down the next 16 Eagles until another double in the sixth. Despite the two extra base hits, no Eagle reached third base on Sunday. Lane improved to 2-0 on the season with a 2.03 ERA and .76 WHIP through two starts.
Easton Sikorski, Western Michigan, RHP
Sophomore, Fraser, Mich. (De La Salle)
In just his second career start, Sikorski was dominant on the mound as the Broncos defeated Alabama A&M 12-0 in game two of the four-game series. Sikorski pitched a career-high eight innings, allowing no runs on two hits while striking out 10. Sikorski’s 10 strikeouts were the most by a Bronco pitcher since Nic Laio had 10 back on April 27, 2018 versus Eastern Michigan. Sikorski moved to 2-0 on the season with a 0.64 ERA in 14 innings pitched.
Other Top Performances
Quinton Kujawa, Akron, RHP
Junior, Mount Vernon, Ill. (Mount Vernon Twp. HS)
In Akron’s first road trip, junior RHP Quinton Kujawa earned his first start in game 2 at Pepperdine. He threw 7.0 innings, including four scoreless innings, and took the loss (0-1) for the Zips. He struck out three and walked one. On the week, Kujawa sports a 1.29 ERA with 7.0 innings pitched.
Aaron Simpson, Ball State, OF
Senior, Orange, Calif. (Servite)
Simpson slugged 6 extra-base hits including a game-winning home run as Ball State took two of three games at Houston Baptist. On Saturday, Simpson slugged a 3-run homer in the 11th inning to lift the Cardinals to a 6-3 win. On Sunday, Simpson went 4-for-5 with two doubles and two triples.
Jordan Patty, Central Michigan, RHP
Junior, Midland, Mich. (Midland)
Patty continued his hot start to the 2020 campaign this past week as the Chippewas took 2-of-3 over Jacksonville State on the road. The Midland, Mich., native hurled 7.2 innings of shutout baseball allowing just two hits while striking four to help CMU secure a 1-0 shutout victory over the Gamecocks. Patty runs his record to 2-0 to kick off the season and extends his scoreless streak to 14.2 innings. He paces the MAC in opposing batting average holding hitters to just a .065 clip.
Justin Reinkall, Eastern Michigan, RHP
Junior, Superior, Wis. (Superior) (Southeast Community College)
Reinkall was impressive in two appearances on the bump for EMU this week, both against Pittsburgh. Reinkall went 2.1 innings on Feb. 21, allowing just one hit while striking out two Panther batters. In his next appearance, Feb. 22, he was just as effective, going three complete innings while surrendering just one run. Reinkall did not allow a free pass in either appearance, and has the best ERA on the team of any Eagle who has tossed more than one inning.
Jeff Timko, Eastern Michigan, Outfielder
R-Junior, Rochester Hills, Mich. (Brother Rice)
Timko put together a solid week at the plate for the Green and White. He led all Eagles in hits, slugging percentage, total bases, and runs, while tying for the team-lead in extra base hits. The fourth-year Eagle leads the team with a .346 batting average on the season, ans has a team-leading nine hits.
Eric Wentz, Kent State, OF
Sophomore, Hudson Ohio
Wentz provided a much needed spark for the Golden Flashes against Florida Gulf Coast. Wentz had a pinch-hit single in the loss on Friday night, but helped lead the Flashes to two wins when he was in the starting lineup. Wentz went 4-7 over the weekend and reached base in 6 of 10 at bats. The sophomore had two doubles, two steals, two driven in and three runs scored in the 9-2 and 4-0 victories over Gulf Coast.
Sam Bachman, Miami, Pitcher
Sophomore, Fishers, Ind. (Hamilton Southeastern)
Bachman was dominant in his start on Friday in a 6-2 win over Purdue Fort Wayne. He did not allow a hit over the first 5.1 innings and kept the Mastodons off the board until the eighth inning where they scored twice. In all he allowed only those two runs on six hits in 8.0 innings of work. He struck out an impressive 12 batters, which was a new career high.
Nate Thomas, NIU, Pitcher
Senior, South Bend, Ind. (Mishawaka Marian)
Nate Thomas allowed one unearned run over the final four innings in NIU's 7-5 win at Southeast Missouri in game one of a doubleheader last Saturday. Thomas struck out six Redhawks while allowing three hits to earn the win out of the bullpen.
Tommy Szczasny, NIU, 3B
Senior, Tinley Park, Ill. (Lincoln-Way North)
Szczasny hit .500/.556/.875 as NIU took three out of four games at Southeast Missouri this weekend. The senior had a hit in all four games. Szczasny had the two-run single in the eighth inning on Friday that put NIU ahead 6-4 in a 7-4 win. He was 3-for-3 with two RBI in the Huskies' 7-5 victory in game one of Saturday's doubleheader. Szczasny drove in the go-ahead runs with a two-RBI single in the top of the eighth. In game two of the doubleheader, Szczasny became the first Huskie since 2015 to hit two home runs in a game. He capped the weekend going 2-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored in NIU's 11-5 win.
Chris Meyers, Toledo, First Base
Junior, Miamisburg, Ohio (Miamisburg)
Meyers had an excellent week at the Alamo Irish Classic, slashing .400/.550/.867 across four games. Meyers reached base 11 times during the weekend and got on base multiple times in all four games. In the win over Incarnate Word, he went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run, double, and two walks. Meyers led the Rockets in slugging, on-base percentage, total bases 13), and walks (four) last week. As of Sunday morning, he led the MAC in home runs (three) and slugging (.815).
Ethan Hajdukovic, Western Michigan, OF
Senior, Inverness, Ill. (Fremd)
Hajdukovic led the Broncos to a four-game series sweep of Alabama A&M over the weekend with a .474 batting average to go along with eight RBIs, seven runs scored, three doubles, one triple and one home run. Hajdukovic also drew four walks against the Bulldogs and had a stolen base. For the weekend the Inverness, Ill. native recorded a .565 on-base percentage and an .895 slugging percentage. In game one of the series, Hajdukovic went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored and was a single away from accomplishing the cycle. It was Hajdukovic first home run of the season and fifth of his career. The senior followed up that performance with a 1-for-4 performance at the plate with one RBI and one run scored in game two along with a 1-for-6 day at the plate with one RBI and two runs scored in game three. In the series finale Hajdukovic had a career day going a perfect 4-for-4 with four RBIs, two walks and two runs scored. The four-hit performance matched his career-high set back on April 10, 2019 against Notre Dame. For the series, Hajdukovic matched his career-high three separate times with two runs scored. For the season, Hajdukovic is hitting .379 with eight RBIs and seven runs scored. Through the first seven games of his senior campaign, Hajdukovic has a .655 slugging percentage and a .455 on-base percentage.
