KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The MIAA announced its sixth Baseball Athletes of the Week presented by
Mammoth Turf for the 2021 season. This week's Pitcher of the Week is Emporia State's Jake Barton and Tommy Stevenson of Missouri Southern State earns the Hitter of the Week.
Barton tossed a four-hit shutout to give Emporia State its lone win in the series against Rogers State. He struck out nine while giving up just four hits with a walk and two-hit batters in 7.0 innings. He held the Hillcats scoreless while they scored 29 runs in the other two games. It was his second shutout of the season.
Stevenson helped Missouri Southern State to a three-game sweep of Fort Hays State last week. He capped his week with a record-setting performance as he broke the MSSU single-game hit record and tied the MIAA record with six hits in a 6-for-7 performance in game three, driving in six and scoring three runs. On the week, Stevenson hit .600, while slugging 1.267 and posting an on-base percentage of .625. He had nine hits, four runs, 13 RBIs, two doubles a triple and a home run during the week.
Notable Performances (Listed alphabetically)
Blaze Brothers - Northeastern State
Brothers was 5-for-12 at the plate in the series win at Missouri Western. In the doubleheader sweep, he scored five runs and drove in seven on two home runs, a triple and double. He also drew three free passes Saturday. The NSU leadoff batter and second baseman had a single Sunday to push his reached-base streak to 16 games.
Mason Harvey - Rogers State
Harvey had a monster week at the plate, hitting .667 with six extra-base hits, including three home runs. Harvey hit a grand slam and a three-run home run in a 5-for-6 day at the plate in game one of the series against Emporia State, helping the Hillcats win 18-15. He also homered in the rubber match of the series, leading the Hillcats to their third series win of the season with a 3-for-4 day at the plate.
Corey Murphy - Rogers State
Murphy allowed one run over six innings to lead the Hillcats to victory in the rubber match of the series against Emporia State. Murphy had seven strikeouts in the performance, giving up just five hits to earn the win.
Zach Parish - Missouri Southern State
Parish and the Lions swept Fort Hays State last weekend. In his start, Parish went five innings to move his Division II leading record to 6-0 on the season. Parish struck out eight batters and allowed just one hit in the game. After allowing his lone run of the game, Parish retired the final seven batters he faced in-a-row.
Max Spitzmiller - Northwest Missouri State
Spitzmiller tossed a three-hit complete game in Northwest's 12-2 victory Friday at Newman. Spitzmiller struck out 10 Jet batters.
Nic Swanson - Northeastern State
Swanson threw 7.0 innings of two-run ball at Missouri Western to secure a record fifth-straight MIAA series win for Northeastern State. He struck out nine and allowed seven hits. Swanson (5-0) has earned the win in each of his starts and is the only conference pitcher with a sub-1.00 ERA.
Donovan Warren - Northwest Missouri State
Warren batted .556 with a 1.133 slugging percentage and added two homers and a trio of stolen bases as Northwest took two of three at Newman. Warren blasted a pair of home runs, including a grand slam, in Northwest's 12-2 seven-inning win on Friday. Warren hit a solo homer leading off the third, then went deep in the fourth to give Northwest a 7-1 lead. He went 2-for-3 with four runs scored and five RBI in the win. Warren recorded a hit in each game and went 2-for-2 in the final game of the series. Warren added to his team-leading four outfield assists with an assist in the first game of Saturday's twinbill. He is currently on a four-game hit streak.
Erik Webb - Central Missouri
Webb set the new MIAA home run record last Sunday against Washburn, blasting the 53rd of his career. That capped off a week in which he hit .545 with six hits and two home runs in a series sweep of Washburn. Webb's first home run of the week tied the game with two outs in the eighth inning in an eventual 3-2 win.
Also Nominated
- Kros Bay - Washburn
- Bailey Crump - Missouri Western State
- Aaron Gerdes - Pittsburg State
- Kellan Landstad - Newman
- Brigham Mooney - Emporia State
- Britt Brown - Washburn
- Collin Jones - Central Missouri
- Connor Langrell - Newman