SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – For the second straight week, JonJon Berring of Santa Clara won Rawlings WCC Baseball Player of the Week, while Nick Brink of Portland picked up 10 strikeouts on the mound, earning Rawlings WCC Pitcher of the Week and San Francisco's AJ Guiliana garnered Rawlings WCC Freshman of the Week accolades.
RAWLINGS WCC BASEBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK – JONJON BERRING, SR., OF – SANTA CLARA
JonJon Berring belted a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth on Sunday to give Santa Clara a 10-9 win and cap off a three-game sweep over UMBC. Berring came up to bat with two outs and the bases loaded with the Broncos trailing, 9-6. He launched a high-arching home run over the right field wall to send the crowd and his dugout into a frenzy. It was also Berring who started the Broncos' comeback in the bottom of the seventh. UMBC had just pushed its lead to 6-0, and Berring responded with a leadoff double, eventually scoring the Broncos' first run of the game. He doubled again in the eighth, as well. Berring stole three bases in Friday's series opener. He drove in five runs and scored five times with three extra-base hits on the weekend. For the week, he batted .385, slugged .769 and had an on-base percentage of .529.
Also Nominated: Sam Biller, LMU; Connor Bradshaw, Pepperdine; Kaden Peterson, Ryan Pierce, Saint Mary's; Pacific; Austin Smith, San Diego
RAWLINGS WCC BASEBALL PITCHER OF THE WEEK – NICK BRINK, JR. – PORTLAND
Nick Brink pitched six shutout innings against USC, striking out 10 Trojans and allowing only four hits for Portland's first shutout win this year. The 10 strikeouts were a career high. It was also Brink's 16th straight appearance without allowing more than two earned runs allowed dating back to last season. The WCC early strikeout leader also marked his second start this year with no runs allowed. This is the second straight week a Pilot has won Rawlings WCC Pitcher of the Week.
Also Nominated: Owen Hackman, LMU; Blake Hammond, Preston Howey, Saint Mary's; Santa Clara; Josh Randall, San Diego; Ethan Shaver, Pacific
RAWLINGS WCC BASEBALL FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK – AJ GUILIANA, FR., INF – SAN FRANCISCO
In three games against Nevada last weekend, San Francisco's AJ Guiliana posted a team-leading .556 batting average with five hits in nine at-bats. He totaled four extra-base hits throughout the weekend, including recording two in back-to-back games. He garnered two hits in four at-bats with two doubles and one RBI in the 7-2 win over the Wolf Pack on Sunday. This is USF's first Rawlings WCC weekly honor this season.
Also Nominated: Ben Cleary, Santa Clara; Connor Harrison, Saint Mary's
2024 Rawlings WCC Baseball Players of the Week
February 19: JonJon Berring, Santa Clara
February 26: JonJon Berring, Santa Clara
2024 Rawlings WCC Baseball Pitchers of the Week
February 19: Sam Stuhr, Portland
February 26: Nick Brink, Portland
2024 Rawlings WCC Baseball Freshmen of the Week
February 19: Connor Harrison, Saint Mary's
February 26: AJ Guiliana, San Francisco