WACO, Texas – Lubbock Christian’s Chase Whetsel and St. Mary’s Zach De La Garza were named the Heartland Baseball Players of the Week for games scheduled from Feb. 4 – Feb. 10.
Hitter of the Week
Chase Whetsel, Lubbock Christian
Outfielder, Sr., Corpus Christi, Texas
Lubbock Christian senior Chase Whetsel had an incredible weekend offensively for the Chaps. The senior outfielder hit .587 on the weekend with seven extra base hits with a slugging percentage of 1.471. He also walked three times and was hit by a pitch for a .667 on-base percentage. He reached base all nine times he led off an inning, and on Monday saw his best performance, as he fell a double shy of the cycle but still hit two home runs, two triples and a single in a 5-6 performance. Whetsel's 15 total bases in a single game are tied for the third most in a single game in Heartland Conference history. His five runs scored were also the most by an LCU player since Ryan Burnam scored five times on 4/9/2011 vs. Northwestern Oklahoma St. This is Whetsel’s first weekly award this season.
Pitcher of the Week
Zach De La Garza, St. Mary’s
Starting Pitcher, Sr., San Antonio, Texas
St. Mary's junior Zach De La Garza improved to 2-0 on the season with a six-inning, two-hit shutout performance in a home victory over Tarleton State. De La Garza fanned seven in the contest, while walking two to retire all but four of the 21 batters he faced. The Texans hit just .105 against him in the game and De La Garza has held opponents to a .139 hitting percentage so far this season. De La Garza is averaging 1.0 strikeout per inning in his 11.0 innings pitched this season. This is De La Garza’s first pitcher of the week award this season.
Previous Players of the Week
Week One