Milwaukee's Koenig, Oakland's Hager Collect Weekly Awards

INDIANAPOLIS -- Milwaukee senior outfielder Sam Koenig (Prairie du Sac, Wis./Sauk Prairie) has been named the Horizon League Batter of the Week, while Oakland left-hander Jason Hager (Swartz Creek, Mich./Grand Blanc) is the League’s Pitcher of the Week, for the week of March 31-April 5. The accolade is the third of the season for Koenig and second in as many seasons for Hager.

Milwaukee (14-9, 5-6 Horizon) went 3-1 on the week, collecting a 13-11 win at Northern Illinois before taking two of three games in a League series versus Valparaiso. Hager lifted Oakland (5-18, 3-8 Horizon) to its lone win in three games last week.

Koenig continued his torrid hitting, going 10-for-19 at the plate and extending his hitting streak to 23 games. In three of four games this week, Koenig collected two or more hits.

The senior matched his career high with four hits in a 4-for-5 effort. In the third inning, Koenig’s two-run homer pushed Milwaukee’s lead to 4-0 before a fifth inning double tied the game at 5. Koenig’s fourth hit of the game loaded the bases in the ninth and set Milwaukee up for a walk-off win.

With two home runs and four doubles, Koenig posted a 1.624 OPS. On the year, Koenig paces the Horizon League in batting average, hits, runs, homers and OPS.

Taking the series-opening start for Oakland, Hager tossed his first complete game of the season as the Golden Grizzlies knocked off Youngstown State. Collecting his second win of the year, Hager struck out five and scattered six hits.

Oakland’s stalwart in the rotation, Hager leads the team in wins, innings pitched and strikeouts.

After two non-conference games versus UW-Superior and at Iowa, Milwaukee will welcome League-leading UIC to Henry Aaron Field for a conference series April 10-12. Oakland will host Kent State and travel to Central Michigan ahead of a League series at Valparaiso.

2015 Baseball Weekly Awards
Batter of the Week
Feb. 16:   Jeff Boehm, UIC (Sr., 1B)
Feb. 23:  Gabe Snyder, Wright State (Fr., OF)
March 2:  Ryan Fucci, Wright State (Jr., OF)
March 9:  Nate Palace, Valparaiso (So., 1B) 
March 16: Sam Koenig, Milwaukee (Sr., OF)
March 23: Cody Bohanek, UIC (So., SS)
March 30: Sam Koenig, Milwaukee (Sr., OF)
April 6:  Sam Koenig, Milwaukee (Sr., OF)

Pitcher of the Week
Feb. 16:   Brian Keller, Milwaukee (Jr., RHP)
Feb. 23:  Jesse Scholtens, Wright State (Jr., RHP)
March 2:  Justin Langley, Milwaukee (So., LHP)
March 9:  Joe Pavlovich, Milwaukee (Sr., RHP)
March 16: Jake Dahlberg, UIC (So., LHP)
March 23: Jesse Scholtens, Wright State (Jr., RHP)
March 30: Jake Dahlberg, UIC (So., LHP)
April 6:  Jason Hager, Oakland (Sr., LHP)

Horizon League top performers (March 31-April 5)

• Mike Brosseau, Oakland (Jr., SS) - Clubbing two home runs in the series at YSU, Brosseau went 6-for-12 on the week, posting a 1.571 OPS.
• Alex Larivee, Youngstown State (So., OF) - Posted hits in all four games last week, going 6-for-15 with three RBIs.
• Alex Lee, UIC (Sr., INF) - In UIC’s series win against Wright State, Lee went 5-for-11, driving in two.
• Spencer Mahoney, Valparaiso (Jr., SS) - Mahoney posted a 1.045 OPS on the week, going 8-for-18 and adding four RBIs for the Crusaders.
• Jake Dahlberg, UIC (So., LHP) - Continuing his strong season, Dahlberg led UIC to a series-opening win against Wright State with 7.1 innings pitched in which he allowed just one run and struck out three.
• Justin Langley, Milwaukee (So., LHP) - As Milwaukee went 3-1 on the week, Langley collected a win and a save. The lefty threw three scoreless innings to get the win at Northern Illinois before closing out the Panthers’ win on Saturday with a six-out save.
• Jared Wright, Youngstown State (Jr., LHP) - Coming out of the bullpen on Thursday, Wright tossed four innings of scoreless relief to collect the victory in the Penguins’ 6-3 win.
• Bryce Yoder, Valparaiso (Jr., RHP) - Tossing a career-best 4.1 innings, Yoder helped Valpo collect its lone series win at Milwaukee, allowing two runs.