UNO's Keele, SDSU's Somsen Earn Weekly Baseball Awards
UNO's Keele, SDSU's Somsen Earn Weekly Baseball Awards
ELMHURST, Ill. – Omaha's Ryan Keele and South Dakota State's Layne Somsen were named The Summit League's Baseball Player and Pitcher of the Week for their performances March 11-17.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Ryan Keele, Omaha
Sr., OF
Bellevue, Neb. // Northwestern State Univ.
Keele earns his first career Player of the Week honor after leading Omaha to a pair of wins over Big Ten opponents last week. In the 9-6 win over Iowa Saturday, the senior outfielder went 4-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored. He added four hits in the two-game midweek set at Minnesota, with two of those coming in the 10-9 extra-inning victory Wednesday, along with two RBI and two runs scored. For the week, Keele hit .533 (8-for-15) with five runs scored, four RBI, two walks, a double and stolen base. He also had a .600 slugging and on-base percentage in the four games.
Also nominated: Tyler Shepherd, Fort Wayne; Kyle Kleinendorst, North Dakota State; Brett Impemba, Oakland; Paul Jacobson, South Dakota State; Zach Burling, Western Illinois.
Previous honorees: 2/18 – Markus Kalber, IPFW; 2/25 – Andrew Melton, SDSU; 3/4 – Andrew Melton, SDSU; 3/11 – Nolan Jacoby, OU.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Layne Somsen, South Dakota State
Sr., RHP
Yankton, S.D. // Yankton
Somsen collects his first career Pitcher of the Week award after notching his first win of the season in the first game of a three-game set at Saint Louis. The senior right hander went 8.2 innings in the Jackrabbit's 3-0 victory over the Atlantic-10 preseason favorite. He recorded six strikeouts while surrendering seven hits and just one walk. Somsen lowered his season ERA to 0.94 and has struck out 30 batters in 28.2 innings this season.
Also nominated: Chuck Weaver, Fort Wayne; Trevor Jaunich, North Dakota State; Tim Koons, Oakland; Anthony Falcone, Omaha; John White, Western Illinois.
Previous honorees: 2/18 – John Straka, NDSU/Mason Pingel, WIU; 2/25 – John Straka, NDSU; 3/4 – David Ernst, NDSU; 3/11 – Tim Koons, OU.
ABOUT THE SUMMIT LEAGUE
Entering its fourth decade of Division I athletics, The Summit League offers 19 championship sports and has a combined enrollment of over 144,000 at nine universities, four of which are located in top 58 U.S. metro populations (Detroit, Indianapolis, Kansas City and Omaha). Member institutions include: Fort Wayne (Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne), IUPUI (Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis), Kansas City (University of Missouri-Kansas City), Omaha (University of Nebraska Omaha), North Dakota State University, Oakland University, the University of South Dakota, South Dakota State University and Western Illinois University. Previously known as the Mid-Continent Conference, The Summit League rebranded in 2007 and has since produced 54 All-Americans, 37 Academic All-America selections and seven NCAA Championships. For more information about the league and its history, visit www.thesummitleague.org to "See The Summit" or follow on Twitter @thesummitleague.
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