Telford, Straka Capture Weekly Baseball Awards
Telford, Straka Capture Weekly Baseball Awards
ELMHURST, Ill. – South Dakota State's Daniel Telford and North Dakota State's John Straka were named The Summit League's Baseball Player and Pitcher of the Week for their performances March 25-31.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Daniel Telford, South Dakota State
Sr., UTL
Newmarket, Ontario // Huron Heights Secondary School
Telford captures his first career Player of the Week award after leading South Dakota State to a series win at Northern Colorado. In game two's 11-8 win, the senior went 4-for-5 with a triple, three RBI and two runs scored. He added two more hits, including another triple, in the one-run loss in the series finale. For the week, Telford batted .600 (6-for-10) with five RBI, four runs scored, two triples, two walks and no strikeouts. He collected a 1.000 slugging percentage and .667 on-base percentage in the series.
Also nominated: Markus Kalber, Fort Wayne; Nick Altavilla, North Dakota State; Robby Enslen, Oakland; Tyler Splichal, Omaha.
Previous honorees: 2/18 – Markus Kalber, IPFW; 2/25 – Andrew Melton, SDSU; 3/4 – Andrew Melton, SDSU; 3/11 – Nolan Jacoby, OU; 3/18 – Ryan Keele, UNO; 3/25 – Caleb Fenimore, IPFW.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK
John Straka, North Dakota State
Sr., RHP
Chaska, Minn. // Chaska
Straka collects his third Pitcher of the Week award this season and seventh of his career after tossing a complete game shutout over North Dakota on Friday. His 10 strikeouts were one shy of his career-high and he extended his Bison career shutouts record to seven. The senior allowed no walks and stranded two base runners in scoring position with back-to-back strikeouts in the third inning while striking out the side in the fourth. His seven career Pitcher of the Week awards tie him for second in league history.
Also nominated: Chuck Weaver, Fort Wayne; Chris Van Dyke, Oakland; Tyler Fox, Omaha; Layne Somsen, South Dakota State.
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; 3/18 – Layne Somsen, SDSU; 3/25 – Brian Loconsole, WIU.
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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