Wright State's Timm and Valparaiso's Kowalczyk Named Baseball Players of the Week

INDIANAPOLIS -- Wright State sophomore Michael Timm and Valparaiso junior Karch Kowalczyk have been named Horizon League Baseball Players of the Week for the period of April 29-May 5.

Timm picked up Batter of the Week accolades for the first time this season after batting .471 in Wright State’s four games last week.

He started the week with a triple in a 1-for-4 performance against Urbana.

In Wright State’s series against Youngstown State, Timm was 7-of-13 at the plate as the Raiders won two of the three games versus the Penguins.

On Friday night, the sophomore was 4-of-6, scoring two runs and driving in two more as the Raiders topped YSU, 18-4. On Saturday afternoon, Timm was 1-for-3 batting, driving in two runs as WSU clinched the series with a 6-3 win. The Wright State first baseman closed out the series with a 2-for-4 game, driving in two runs for the third consecutive game as the Raiders fell, 7-4.

Kowalczyk won Pitcher of the Week for the second time in three weeks after recording three saves for the Crusaders.

The junior from Peru, Ill., closed Valpo’s 5-4 win over Western Michigan on Wednesday, striking out two and walking one to record his fifth save of the season.

Kowalczyk appeared in all three games of Valparaiso’s sweep of Milwaukee last week.

On Friday, he closed the Crusaders’ 5-3 win with a perfect ninth inning. On Saturday, he entered the game with Valpo ion front 10-6 and closed out the game for the Crusaders, but in the process gave up his first earned run of the season. He was back on the mound again on Sunday, entering the game with two outs and the tying run on first base, after giving up a hit to put two men on, Kowalczyk got the final Panther batter to fly out to preserve the series sweep for Valparaiso.

Kowalczyk, who sat out last season after elbow surgery, has a 0.52 ERA this season. He’s made 15 appearances out of the Valpo bullpen and has pitched 17.1 innings. He’s allowed just 10 hits and has struck out 14 while walking just five batters. His seven saves on the season tie with Nic Manuppelli of Youngstown State for the most in the Horizon League.

Other Horizon League Top Performers (Apr. 29-May 5)
Casey Henn, Wright State (Sr., RHP) - Henn recorded the win against Youngstown State on Friday, throwing six innings and allowing just one earned run and four hits in the ballgame.
Alex Jurich, UIC (Jr., C) - Jurich hit .389 last week for the Flames. Five of his seven hits went for extra bases as he hit three doubles and two triples.
Luke Meeteer, Milwaukee (So., OF) - Meeteer batted .381 last week for the Panthers. He scored five runs and had 10 RBIs during the week. He was 3-for-4 in UWM’s win at Iowa, hitting his first home run of the season against the Hawkeyes.
Tim Suminski, UIC (Sr., LHP) - Suminski struck out 12 batters in UIC’s 11-1 win over Rockford College on Tuesday. It was the most strikeouts in a single game by a Horizon League pitcher this season and the most by a UIC pitcher since April 2009.
Tanner Vavra, Valparaiso (Sr., 2B) - Vavra had four multi-hit games last week as the Crusaders won all five of their contests. He hit .450 for the week; hitting four doubles and drove in three runs.
Josh White, Youngstown State (Jr., C) - White set career-highs with four hits and six RBIs in YSU’s game against Kent State. In the Penguins win over Wright State on Sunday, he was 3-for-4 with a double, scoring two runs and driving in one more.

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
Mar. 25-31          Marcus Heath, Youngstown State
Apr. 1-7               Phil Lipari, Youngstown State
Apr. 8-14             Justin Kopale, Wright State
Apr. 15-21           Drew Dosch, Youngstown State
Apr. 22-28           John Loeffler, Valparaiso & Sam Koenig, Milwaukee
Apr. 29-May 5     Michael Timm, 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
Mar. 25-31          Jake Long, Milwaukee
Apr. 1-7               Patrick O’Brien, Youngstown State
Apr. 8-14             Tomas Michelson, UIC
Apr. 15-21           Karch Kowalczyk, Valparaiso
Apr. 22-28          Chris DeBoo, Valparaiso
Apr. 29-May 5    Karch Kowalczyk, Valparaiso