 |
 |
|
|
For the second straight week, two members of the Mount Vernon Nazarene College baseball team have swept the American Mideast Conference Player and Pitcher of the Week honors when the awards were announced on Monday afternoon.
Chris Stanifer, a senior outfielder from Adrian, Michigan, was chosen as the AMC Player of the Week after batting .722 in five games during the week of April 5-11. The former Adrian High School standout hit safely in all five games with a four-hit game, a three-hit game, and three two-hit performances as the Cougars went 4-1 for the week.
In 18 at bats, Stanifer recorded 13 hits with three doubles, seven runs scored, one run batted in, and six stolen bases. In four AMC games, he posted a .786 batting average (11-for-14) as MVNC went 3-1 for the week and remained in second place in the conference.
Stanifer, the Cougars’ lead-off hitter, currently ranks second at MVNC in career stolen bases with 68. He leads the team with 20 stolen bases in 22 attempts this season.
For the second consecutive week, junior right-hander Andy Heimbach from Wheelersburg, Ohio, has been tabbed as the AMC Pitcher of the Week. The former Wheelersburg High School star picked up two more victories during the week as he improved his overall record to 6-1 on the season. He was also selected as the National Christian College Athletic Association National Pitcher of the Week for the second straight week and the third time this season.
Heimbach, last week’s NAIA National Pitcher of the Week, tossed three perfect innings against Cedarville College as he picked up a win in relief by striking out seven of the nine batters he faced. He then closed the week by tossing a three-hitter with 11 strikeouts in a 7-1 complete-game victory at conference rival Ohio Dominican College.
Heimbach currently has a 0.88 earned run average for the season, and he has struck out 67 batters in 41 innings of work while issuing just four walks. In fact, he has not allowed a walk in his last 26 innings while striking out 44 batters during that span.
MVNC (19-8, 7-1) will return to action on Tuesday when the Cougars will host Walsh University in a conference twinbill that will begin at 1:00 p.m.
