Kansas State’s Roberto Pena (player), Oklahoma State’s Juaron Watts-Brown (pitcher) and Texas Tech’s Gage Harrelson (newcomer) were voted as Big 12 baseball weekly award winners for games ending April 2.
Pena hit .571 (8-for-14) with four home runs, 14 RBIs and a 2.208 OPS to collect his first Big 12 weekly honor. Pena had two games with five RBIs, including Sunday’s contest against No. 24 West Virginia, where he went 2-for-2 with two home runs. The senior first baseman closed the week by reaching in each of his last eight plate appearances and recording hits in each of his last four at-bats. The Caracas, Venezuela native had at least two hits in four of his five games.
Watts-Brown threw a season-high eight innings with 12 strikeouts while allowing just one run on three hits to defeat No. 21 Texas on Saturday. The righty’s 128-pitch effort saw him strike out six consecutive batters over the first two innings, and he ended the night by retiring the last six batters he faced. It is the second pitcher of the week honor for the Hanford, California native.
Harrelson had four multi-hit games, hitting an even .500 (11-for-22) for the week. In the series against TCU, the Warner Robins, Georgia native had three hits in each games, including a performance Sunday that left him a home run shy of the cycle. The outfielder matched his career-high with four RBIs in Friday’s season opener to help clinch his first Big 12 Newcomer of the Week award. He added five runs scored and posted an 1.136 OPS.
Big 12 Baseball Player of the Week:
Feb. 20: Austin Davis, TCU
Feb. 27: J.J. Wetherholt, West Virginia
March 6: Nolan McLean, Oklahoma State
March 13: Roc Riggio, Oklahoma State
March 20: Austin Green, Texas Tech
March 27: Porter Brown, Texas
April 3: Roberto Pena, Kansas State
Big 12 Baseball Pitcher of the Week:
Feb. 20: Brendan Girton, Texas Tech
Feb. 27: Blaine Traxel, West Virginia
March 6: Cam Brown, TCU
March 13: Juaron Watts-Brown, Oklahoma State
March 20: Will Rigney, Baylor
March 27: Cam Brown, TCU
April 3: Juaron Watts-Brown, Oklahoma State
Big 12 Baseball Newcomer of the Week:
Feb. 20: Kevin Bazzell, Texas Tech
Feb. 27: Janzen Keisel, Oklahoma State
March 6: Nolan Schubart, Oklahoma State & Louis Rodriguez, TCU
March 13: Easton Carmichael, Oklahoma
March 20: Dakota Harris, Oklahoma & Austin Green, Texas Tech
March 27: Carson Benge, Oklahoma State
April 3: Gage Harrelson, Texas Tech