PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The American Athletic Conference has announced the winners of the league’s weekly baseball honors for the week ending April 15.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Tyler Osik * R-Jr. * OF * UCF
Osik had a strong showing through a 3-1 week, driving home 13 runs on nine hits and hitting a home run in three consecutive games. He started the week with two RBIs in a 4-0 win over Miami (Fla.), as the Knights captured their nation-leading eighth shutout. He then hit a three-run home run in Game 1 against Cincinnati to help UCF overcome a four-run deficit. He followed with a 3-for-5 performance and five RBIs, including a grand slam on Saturday, as UCF clinched the series. On Sunday, he ended the week going 4-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored. He batted .500 through the Knights’ five games.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Peter Strzelecki * R-Sr. * RHP * USF
Strzelecki tossed a complete game and held No. 7 ECU to one run, while striking out four batters and walking only one in a 13-1 Saturday win. The Bulls went on to take Game 3 on Sunday to clinch a key series on the road. Strzelecki scattered five hits and faced five over the minimum, while lowering his season ERA to 2.67.
WEEKLY HONOR ROLL
Chris Williams * R-Jr. * RHP * UCF
Williams pitched 8.0 innings in the series-clinching 11-2 win over Cincinnati on Saturday. The junior right-hander scattered two runs and three hits, while fanning six batters and walking none. He faced five over the minimum and retired the side in order four times.
Chris Winkel * So. * 1B * UConn
Winkel batted .467 and had at least one RBI in each game through a 2-1-1 week. He went 7-for-15 with five RBIs, three doubles and two runs scored. Winkel recorded an RBI single in a 9-9 10-inning tie with Bryant on Wednesday. He then had two hits in each of the three games at No. 20 Wichita State, recording two doubles and a pair of RBIs in the series-clinching 9-4 Game 2 win on Friday.
David Villar * Jr. * 3B * USF
Batting .467 through four games, Villar led his team with seven hits, five runs scored, two doubles and a game-winning home run, as the Bulls took down No. 7 ECU in a three-game series. The junior third baseman started the week with two doubles at Stetson, capturing his 15th and 16th of the season, which ranks No. 6 in the NCAA. He had two multi-hit games against the Pirates and hit his seventh homer of the season in Sunday’s 5-4 win.
Jonathon Artigues * R-So. * 2B * Tulane
Artigues hit .500 (8-for-16) with six RBIs (including two game-winning hits), four doubles and four runs (including the game-winner on Friday). In a tie game in the bottom of the ninth of the series opener against Houston on Friday, he doubled, stole third and scored on a passed ball to give Tulane a 17-16 win, as the Green Wave overcame a 10-run deficit. He drove in the first run of Tulane’s 2-0 series-clinching win in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader and drove in the game-winning run with a double against New Orleans on Tuesday in Tulane’s first walk-off win of the season.
Luke Ritter * Jr. * OF * Wichita State
Ritter had a .500 week with seven hits, six runs scored and four RBIs. On Tuesday at Oklahoma State, he went 2-for-4 with two runs scored in a 10-7 win. He hit a home run in Game 1 against UConn and went 3-for-5 with three RBIs and a double in a 15-7 Game 3 win.