INDIANAPOLIS -- Milwaukee senior Will Fadness and UIC sophomore Tomas Michelson have been named Horizon League Baseball Players of the Week for the period of Feb. 11-17.
Fadness picked up Batter of the Week accolades hitting two doubles, two home runs and driving in 10 runs in Milwaukee’s season-opening series at New Mexico State. The Eau Claire, Wis., native hit .333 (6-18) in the series, was walked three times and scored five runs. He did not strike out in 22 plate appearances and finished the weekend with a .778 slugging percentage.
In UWM’s 11-0 win over New Mexico State, Fadness hit a grand slam in the 8th inning and finished the game 3-for-5 with five RBIs, two runs scored and an intentional walk. Fadness hit his second home run of the weekend in the next game - a two-run shot - as Milwaukee won 13-8.
The Panthers (2-2) are back in action starting Friday when they begin a three-game series at Miami (Florida). The Hurricanes (3-0) are ranked 20th by the Collegiate Baseball newspaper.
Michelson notched Pitcher of the Week honors after pitching 7.1 scoreless innings in UIC’s season-opening 2-0 win over 24th-ranked Texas A&M. In just his third career start, Michelson allowed just four hits - Aggie hitters had a batting average of .160 against him - and struck out a career-high five to record his second career-win.
The win also marked the first time since the 2002 season that UIC opened the season with a win and was the Flames first win over a nationally ranked opponent since March 7, 2010.
UIC (1-2) heads further west for its next series as the Flames begin a three-game series at Santa Clara (2-1) on Friday.
Other Horizon League top performers (Feb. 11-17)
Tyler Detmer, UIC (So., CF) - Detmer was 5-for-9 (.556) in UIC’s opening series of the season and recorded three of the Flames’ four RBIs last week.
Drew Dosch, Youngstown State(Jr., 3B) - Dosch had hits in all four games and scored in three different games for the Penguins in their opening series. He was 7-14 batting, recording two doubles and one home run and finished the weekend with three runs scored and two RBIs.
Mark Fowler, Wright State (Jr., OF) - Fowler was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate as the Raiders opened the season 2-0. He was 2-2 with two runs scored and three stolen bases in the 8-3 win over Temple and was 1-1 with two sacrifices, a run scored and a RBI in WSU’s 9-5 win over La Salle.
Casey Henn, Wright State (Sr., RHP) - Henn threw six shutout innings in Wright State’s 8-3 win over Temple. He struck out three and allowed just three hits in his first start after missing the 2012 season due to Tommy John surgery.
Michael Morman, Valparaiso(So., OF) - Morman had two multi-hit games as the Crusaders opened the season with three games in Nashville. he was 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI in the season-opener at Belmont and was 2-for-3 with a double in Valpo’s win over Ohio.
Patrick O’Brien, Youngstown State(Jr., RHP) - O’Brien recorded the Penguins first win of the season after allowing just one run in six innings of work in YSU’s 6-4 win over Samford. He allowed two hits in the first inning and then retired the final 16 batters he faced, striking out four and walking none.
Mike Schneider, Milwaukee(Jr., LHP) - Schneider pitched eight shutout innings, striking out a career-high nine batters, to record his first win of the season. NMSU did not get its first hit of the game until two outs in the 6th inning and finished the game with just three (.115 BAA) against Schneider.
Cole Webb, Valparaiso(Jr., RHP) - Webb allowed just one hit in eight shutout innings in Valparaiso’s 1-0 win over Ohio on Saturday. He struck out four and walked just one Bobcat.
