Wright State's Gray, Milwaukee's Long Named Baseball Players of the Week

INDIANAPOLIS -- Wright State senior Garrett Gray and Milwaukee senior Jake Long have been named Horizon League Baseball Players of the Week for the period of March 18-24.

Gray picked up Batter of the Week accolades for the first time this season after hitting .429 in Wright State’s series win over Valparaiso. Gray started the series with a 3-for-4 performance, hitting a triple and driving in two runs, as the Raiders won 7-2.

In WSU’s series-clinching 6-5 win on Saturday, Gray tied the game in the bottom of the 5th with a solo home run, and after Valpo scored two runs in the top of the sixth, tied the game again in the bottom of the 6th with a two-run triple.

For the series, Gray was 6-of-14 from the plate, with one home run, two triples, six RBIs and also stole two bases.

Wright State (8-12, 3-3) is back in action on Thursday when it begins a three game series with Youngstown State.

Long won his second consecutive Pitcher of the Week honor after throwing a complete game shutout to help the Panthers win their series-opener at UIC, 4-0.

Long allowed just four hits in the game, only two in the first eight innings, as he struck out five and walked just three UIC hitters. None of the four hits Long allowed went for extra bases.

Long has now pitched 17 consecutive scoreless innings and became the first Panther since Robert Michalkiewicz in April of 2007 with back-to-back complete games.

Milwaukee (8-11, 4-2) is scheduled to host its first series of the season when Valparaiso begins a three-game trip on Thursday.

Other Horizon League Top Performers (Mar. 18-24)
Andrew Bain, Valparaiso (Sr., DH/2B) - Bain hit .308 in Valpo’s weekend series with Wright State. He drove in three runs in the series and scored one run.

Mitch Ghlefi, Milwaukee(Fr., C) - Ghlefi became just the second-ever freshman in UWM history to record a five-hit game after going 5-for-5 in the Panthers 10-0 win over UIC on Saturday. He hit two doubles and one home run in the contest, driving in three runs and scoring one himself.

Karch Kowalczyk, Valparaiso(Jr., RHP) - Kowalczyk threw three innings of shutout ball against Wright State last week. He struck out two and allowed just two hits, holding opposing batters to a .182 batting average.

Casey Henn, Wright State(Sr., RHP) - Henn led the Raiders to a series-opening win over Valparaiso after allowing only two runs - just one earned - in 7.1 innings of work. Henn struck out seven and allowed six hits in the contest.

Neil Schroth, Youngstown State(Jr., 2B) - Schroth was 3-for-5, driving in four runs and scoring four himself as the Penguins defeated Akron, 20-15, in their only game last week.

Horizon League Batters of the Week
Feb. 11-17          Will Fadness, Milwaukee
Feb. 18-24          Alex Grunenwald, UIC
Feb. 25-Mar. 3    Drew Dosch, Youngstown State
Mar. 4-10            Alex Grunenwald, UIC
Mar. 11-17          Kieston Greene, Wright State
Mar. 18-24          Garrett Gray, Wright State

Horizon League Pitchers of the Week
Feb. 11-17          Tomas Michelson, UIC
Feb. 18-24          Robert Switka, Youngstown State
Feb. 25-Mar. 3    Joey Begel, UIC
Mar. 4-10            Cale Tassi, Milwaukee
Mar. 11-17          Jake Long, Milwaukee
Mar. 18-24          Jake Long, Milwaukee