Feb. 21, 2012
FRISCO, Texas - UT Arlington sophomore designated hitter Matt Shortall has been named the Southland Conference Hitter of the Week and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi junior left-handed pitcher Adam Hoelscher has been named the Southland pitcher of the week, the league office announced Tuesday.
Shortall made his UTA debut last weekend in the Mavericks' 2-1 series win at Louisiana Tech after sitting out last season after transferring from Tulane. The sophomore from Dallas, Texas (Dallas Jesuit H.S.), had five hits in six at-bats in Friday's season-opening 17-10 win against the Bulldogs. Shortall finished two singles, two doubles and a triple, missing the cycle by a home run. He picked up that homer in the second game of the series, an 8-2 win on Sunday, to go along with four RBI, and managed at least one hit in all three games. Shortall was 7 of 14 in the series with a 1.000 slugging percentage.
"Happy that one of out hitters was rewarded for the way we swung the bats as a team opening weekend," UT Arlington Darin Thomas said.
The Mavericks took two of three games at Louisiana Tech, pounding out 45 hits in the series.
Hoelscher took the mound in the opening game of the year, and he never left it for the Islanders, pitching a complete game shutout against Nebraska-Omaha to give the Islanders a season-opening victory. The junior from Corpus Christi, Texas (Calallen H.S.), did not allow a hit until the fifth inning. It was the first complete game of Hoelscher's career as the lefty gave up just five hits and two walks while striking out seven Maverick batters to set the tone for the weekend. The Islanders won the series 3-1, playing doubleheaders both Saturday and Sunday.
Honorable mention for hitter of the week goes to Texas State outfielder Jeff McVaney, Southeastern Louisiana second baseman Brock Hebert, Sam Houston State third baseman Kevin Miller, Stephen F. Austin second baseman Hunter Dozier and Lamar shortstop Aaron Olivas. Honorable mention for pitcher of the week goes to Lamar left-handed pitcher Jonathan Dziedzic, Texas State right-handed pitcher Kyle Finnegan, Northwestern State right-handed pitcher Joe Scanio, Southeastern Louisiana right-handed pitcher Joseph Koon and Sam Houston State right-hander Justin Jackson.
To receive honorable mention, a player must receive votes from 25 percent of the Southland baseball sports information contacts. Each school's SID nominates and votes for the players of the week, though is not permitted to vote for his or her own player.
