Mortensen, Tschida, Jumper Earn #SummitBSB Honors

3/23/2015 12:00:00 AM

ELMHURST, Ill. – Omaha first baseman Alex Mortensen and Western Illinois infielder Chris Tschida were named The Summit League Baseball Players of the Week while South Dakota State relief pitcher Talon Jumper was selected as the league's Pitcher of the Week for their performances March 16-22.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Alex Mortensen, Omaha
Jr., 1B
Omaha, Neb. // Millard North
Mortensen earns his first career Player of the Week award after driving-in 12 runs in Omaha's three-game sweep of North Dakota State. The junior first baseman had three hits with four RBI each in the final two games of the series and went 2-for-4 with a double and four RBI in the series opener Friday. For the week, Mortensen batted .571 (8-for-14) with 12 RBI, three runs scored, a double and sacrifice fly. He also recorded a .643 slugging percentage and .562 on-base percentage.

Chris Tschida, Western Illinois
So. // IF
Joliet, Ill. // Joliet Catholic
Tschida captures his first career Player of the Week honor after collecting four extra base hits and accounting for 10 runs in five games last week. The sophomore infielder had three hits in the series opener against South Dakota State with two runs and a RBI. He started the week with three hits, including two triples, in a pair of games at Wichita State and ended the week with a pair of hits, runs and RBI vs. the Jackrabbits. For the week, Tschida hit .450 (9-for-20) with a .850 slugging percentage and .522 on-base percentage. He added six runs scored, four RBI, three walks, two triples, a double and home run on the week. Tschida currently has a seven-game hitting streak and has reached base in 10 games.

Also nominated: Kendall Whitman, Fort Wayne; Aiden Hook, North Dakota State; Chase Stafford, Oral Roberts; Cody Sharrow, South Dakota State.

Previous honorees: Feb. 16 – Shane Trevino, IPFW; Feb. 23 – Brandon Soat, IPFW/Anthony Sequeira, ORU; March 2 – Reid Clary, SDSU; March 9 – Zach Coppola, SDSU; March 16 – Cole Gruber, UNO.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Talon Jumper, South Dakota State
Sr., RHP
Brighton, Colo. // Mountain Range
Jumper collects his first career Pitcher of the Week award after earning a save in both South Dakota State victories last week. In Friday's 8-5 win at Western Illinois, Jumper pitched the final three innings surrendering just two hits with three strikeouts. The senior allow one hit with one punch out to earn the save in Sunday's 9-7 win. For the week, Jumper tossed four innings in relief with four strikeouts, three hits, no walks and no runs allowed.

Also nominated: Dane Davis, Fort Wayne; Tyler Fox, Omaha; Hayden Holley, Oral Roberts; Tom Constand, Western Illinois.

Previous honorees: Feb. 16 – Kyler Stout, ORU; Feb. 23 – Zach Williamsen, UNO; March 2 – Tyler Hamer, UNO; March 9 – Preston Church, WIU; March 16 – Xavier Altamirano, ORU.

ABOUT THE SUMMIT LEAGUE
In its fourth decade of Division I athletics, The Summit League offers 19 championship sports and has a combined enrollment of over 120,000 at nine institutions, including four located in top 60 U.S. metro populations and two land-grant universities. Member institutions include: Denver (University of Denver), Fort Wayne (Indiana University-Purdue University-Fort Wayne), IUPUI (Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis), North Dakota State University, Omaha (University of Nebraska Omaha), Oral Roberts 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 eight NCAA Champions along with over 65 All-Americans, 60 Academic All-America selections and numerous former student-athletes competing at the highest professional level. For more information about the league and to "See The Summit", visit www.thesummitleague.org, follow on Twitter @thesummitleague, download The Summit League's Front Row app, and watch the weekly "Inside The Summit League" show at www.thesummitleague.org/itsl.

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