UIC's Boehm, Valpo's Fritze Notch Weekly Awards

INDIANAPOLIS -- UIC senior outfielder Jeff Boehm (Lansing, Ill/Mount Carmel) has been named the Horizon League Batter of the Week, while Valparaiso right-hander Ryan Fritze (Woodbury, Minn./Woodbury) is the League’s Pitcher of the Week, for the week of May 4-10. The accolade is the first this season for Fritze and the second for Boehm.

Boehm helped lead the Flames to a sweep of Oakland this past week which put UIC into a half-game lead over Wright State with one series left in the regular season for both teams.

Boehm was locked in at Oakland last week as the Flames senior led the way with five home runs, 10 RBI and a batting average of .667, while slugging 2.083 and registering an on-base percentage of .750 in the three-game sweep.

The leftfielder started the series with a 4-for-5 effort in UIC’s 13-11 win over the Golden Grizzlies on Friday. He hit a two-run home run in the first inning and added a solo shot in the third inning. On Saturday, Boehm had another two homer game as he hit a solo shot in the seventh inning and had a two-RBI home run in the top of the ninth.  Boehm cracked his fifth home run of the series in the series finale with a fifth-inning two-run shot. He finished the game 2-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored.

Boehm owns 13 homers on the year which puts him tied-for-third on UIC's all-time single-season leaderboard. His 58 RBI ranks him eighth on the Flames' single-season list.  He ranks first or second in seven Horizon League offensive categories.

Fritze retired the first 11 batters he faced on Sunday as he picked up series-clinching victory for the Crusaders. He didn’t allow a base-runner into a two-out walk in the fifth. Fritze limited the Penguins to just three hits over seven shutout innings, while striking out a season-high nine batters and lowering his ERA to a season-low 3.95.

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)
April 13:  Luke Meeteer, Milwaukee (Jr., OF)
April 20:  Sean Murphy, Wright State (So., C)
April 27:  Frank Califano, Youngstown State (Sr., OF)
May 4:  Michael Timm, Wright State (Sr., 2B)
May 11: Jeff Boehm, UIC (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)
April 13:  Alex McIntosh, Milwaukee (Fr., LHP)
April 20:  Trevor Lane, UIC (Jr., LHP)
April 27:  Josh North, Youngstown State (Sr., RHP)
May 4:  Dalton Lundeen, Valparaiso (Jr., LHP)
May 11: Ryan Fritze, Valparaiso (Jr., RHP)

Horizon League top performers (May 4-10)
Daniel Delaney, Valparaiso (Jr., 1B) – Delaney lifted his batting average to .324 thanks to a 7-for-16 week at the plate. He drove in at least one run in all four games and is in the midst of an eight-game hitting streak.
Joe King, Youngstown State (So., LHP) – King pitched seven shutout innings in earning the win at Valparaiso on Saturday. He surrendered just three hits and walked two while striking out four.
Justin Langley, Milwaukee (So., LHP - Langley helped give the Panthers a chance to win Sunday, pitching 8.0 strong innings despite the no-decision. He allowed 2 earned runs and struck out 10 Crusaders.
Alex Larivee, Youngstown State (So., OF) – Larivee went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, a double and two steals in Saturday’s doubleheader at Valparaiso.
Luke Mamer, Wright State (Sr., RHP) – Mamer picked up the win over Milwaukee on Friday night, pitching five innings of shutout ball, while striking out five.
Michael Porcaro, Milwaukee (Sr., 2B) - Porcaro led UWM to a 3-2 week, batting an impressive .550 on the week, collecting 11 hits in 20 at bats. He scored 4 runs and slugged .700, putting together an OBP of .625. Among the 11 hits he collected was career hit No. 200, becoming the 11th player in school history to reach the milestone.
Mitch Roman, Wright State (So., SS) – Roman batted .600 (9-of-15) at the plate in WSU’s series at Milwaukee. He went 3-for-5 with a home run, two RBI and two runs scored in Friday’s game and went 5-for-6 with a double and three runs scored in the first game on Saturday.
Mitchell Schulewitz, UIC (So., RHP) – Schulewitz tossed five innings of the second game of the Oakland series to pick up the win. He struck out three, while allowing just one base runner via hit batter.
Austin Schulfer, Milwaukee (Fr., RHP) - Schulfer pitched UWM to a midweek win over MSOE, allowing 2 earned runs in 8.0 innings, striking out a career-high 9 batters.