Big Men On Campus Week X

By Matt Betts
Canadian Baseball Network

The BMOC is back for Week 10. This week features a pitcher and players of the week, along with other performances that turned heads, including that of a police department. Let’s take a look around the world of college baseball for the top Canadians.

Daniels brings home NSIC honours
Why not start off the weekly column with a Pitcher of the Week. Kendal Daniels (Regina, Sask.) epitomized the meaning of a horse, a bulldog or any other animal comparison you would like to apply to a pitcher. He began his week with a start for Minot State against Concordia-St. Paul in which he went 7 2/3 innings, scattered nine hits and three runs. He struck out five and walked one while being handed a tough luck loss. Surely itching to get back out there, he was handed the ball in Game 4 of the Beavers series with Winona State. In his second start of the week he refused to lose, or come out of the game for that matter. He tossed a complete game shutout, allowing three hits with six punch outs and a walk to lead his team to a 6-0 win. For his performance, Daniels earned himself Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Pitcher of the Week.

Another weekly award
As promised, there was also a Canadian who earned Player of the Week honours. This young man has asserted himself as a household name in the weekly column. No. 5 ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan’s Christopher Acosta-Tapia (Deauville Laval, Que.) started his week with a 2-for-2 game with a home run, a double and three RBIs in a 17-1 thrashing of Randall University. He followed it up with two more multi-hit games, including his second home run of the week in Game 1 of their series with Ottawa. He closed his week with a hit in Games 2 and 3. When the dust settles he finished the week with eight hits, two home runs, eight RBIs and a stolen base for OKWU. He hit .571 which was good enough to earn him Kansas Athletic Conference Player of the Week. The Eagles are 33-7 so far this season.

Morro continues to mash for Chat State
Connor Morro (Caledon, Ont.) was back at it, destroying baseballs this past week for Chattanooga State. He had nine hits in all, including a home run and seven RBIs in Game 1 of their series with Southwest Tennessee.  A game Chattanooga State took 20-13. His other top performance from the week came in his last game, where he went 3-for-4 with a triple and four more RBIs. He has been so hot that the Ontario Blue Jays felt the need to inform the Chattanooga Police on Twitter about his assaults on various baseballs, to which the police force responded “CPD is well aware of @ConnorMorro’s recent hits and we are contemplating charges ... for killing it!” Morro was also named Tennessee Community College Athletic Association Player of the Week by TN Baseball Report.

Jaco jolts Vernon offence
Hayden Jaco (Coquitlam, BC) went 7-for-17 this past week for Vernon Community College. His best performance was in Game 3 of their series with Ranger where he went 4-for-4 with 2 home runs, totaling four RBIs. In 34 games so far in 2017 he is hitting .286 with five home runs, 24 RBIs and 24 runs scored.

Howie hits for EKU
The University of Eastern Kentucky Colonels won all four of their games this past week, including a three-game sweep of the University of Tennessee-Martin. Nick Howie (Oakville, Ont.) got his week going with a hit, a walk and a RBI in a 6-3 midweek win over Marshall. He went 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs in the opener against Tennessee-Martin, a 3-2 win. In Game 2, an 11-3 drubbing, Howie went 3-for-5 with a double, two RBIs and a stolen base. The finale saw him collect a hit, be hit and drive in a run.

Schulz reaches 17 times in 3-3 weekend
Minot State dropped their first three games of the week but rebounded by taking the final three to break even. Jordan Schulz (Strasbourg, Sask.) did his best to bring home all six wins by reaching base 17 times. He had seven hits, six walks and was hit by four pitches and stole two bases on the week.

Another complete game for Gapp
Noah Gapp (St. Albert, Alta.) was at it again this past week. He threw another complete game and picked up his 8th win of the season, passing his 2017 win total. He threw seven inning innings of four hit baseball. He allowed three runs, struck out ten and walked four to improve to 8-1. He has thrown 69 1/3 innings in 2017 compared to his 71 inning total in 2016. He owns a 1.04 ERA so far this year, thanks to a .176 opponent batting average.

Lumley leads Canisius to series win
Jake Lumley (Windsor, Ont.) used five hits, including multi-hit games in Games 2 and 3 to help lead the Canisius College Golden Griffins to a 2-1 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference series win over Monmouth. The Griffs are 16-10 (2-1 MAAC).

Kirwer continues to hit, NU sweeps St. Peter’s
A hit in Game 1, two hits in Game 2 and three hits in Game 3 for Tanner Kirwer (Sherwood Park, Alta.) helped lead the Niagara Purple Eagles to a three-game sweep of St. Peter’s in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference action. He hit three doubles, drove in three runs and stole a pair of bases in the series. Niagara improved to 13-9 (4-2 MAAC) in 2017.

Koroneos crushes opposing pitching
Zachary Koroneos (Toronto, Ont.) used a solo home run in Penn State Harrisburg’s opening game of the week to kick start his production. He had a three-hit game in three of the six games they played, including two more home runs, both of the two-run variety. His team went 5-1 on the week behind twelve hits from the Canadian.

Cleland picks up win
Brent Cleland (Toronto, Ont.) took the ball for the University of Buffalo against St. Bonaventure and did not disappoint. He threw seven scoreless innings with seven strikeouts and a walk to pick up his first win of the season. He allowed the five hits in the 5-4 win. He also threw 2 1/3 innings of relief on the weekend against Kent State.

Thomas strikeouts 10
Seven scoreless innings, two hits, 10 strikeouts and walk. It was a good day at the office for Kyle Thomas (Mississauga, Ont) of the University of Northwestern Ohio. He helped improve their record to 26-10 overall. They are also 16-1 in conference and an astounding 13-1 at home.

Glaude bats .500
Despite an 8-for-16 week from David Glaude (Quebec City, Que.), Missouri Western State dropped 3-of-4 last week. Glaude got things started with a hit, a walk and a RBI against No. 5 Emporia State. They won their only game of the week in their series opener with Lindenwood, 6-2. Glaude went 3-for-5 with a two-run home run. In Game 2, a 3-2 loss, he had another three hits, this time with two doubles while driving in two runs. He wrapped up his weekend with a hit, two walks and a RBI.

Morris with six hits for Crowder
It looked like it may be a slow weekend for Kobe Morris (Victoria, BC) after he earned just a walk in Crowder College’s 6-3, Game 1 win over St. Louis. However, he got the offensive juices flowing for Game 2 and went 4-for-5 with a home run, a double and five RBIs.  Crowder took the game by a 12-4 final. In an 8-0 win he had another hit and two RBIs and closed things out with a hit in a 5-1 win in Game 4.

Pouwells powers No. 22 LSU Shreveport
Ryan Pouwells (Surrey, BC) started his week off with a bang, going 4-for-5 with a triple and three RBIs in a 12-2 thumping of LSU Alexandria. He had six hits in the final five games of the week with four walks. He drove in four more runs and stole a base as his team went 3-3 on the week.

Owens supplies offence for Mars Hill
It was six hits, a walk and two RBIs for Travis Owens (Toronto, Ont.) of Mars Hill this past week. He is hitting .315 with a .434 on-base mark and a .413 slugging average in 32 games this season.

Kunkel with three appearances, six innings
Talon Kunkel (Saskatoon, Sask.) tossed a scoreless inning and allowed two walks in a 6-2 Union College win over Lindsey Wilson. Union summoned Kunkel from the bullpen again in Game 2 of their series with St. Andrews and he delivered a save. He threw two scoreless innings with three strikeouts in the 3-1 win. He was so good, they gave the ball to him again in Game 3, a game Union dropped 5-3. Kunkel went three innings in the finale, giving up three hits and a run with four strikeouts and a walk.

UBC takes 3-of-5 from Lewis Clark State
Connor Noble (Vancouver, BC) maintained his perfect record (5-0) by picking up the win for the University of British Columbia over No. 12 Lewis-Clark State in Game 1 of their five-game series. Noble threw a complete game, giving up five hits and five runs (four earned). He struck out four and walked two. UBC went 3-2 in the series and have gone 5-3 against Lewis-Clark State in 2017.

It was Niall Windeler (Toronto, Ont.) toeing the rubber in Game 2. He went 6 2/3 innings, allowing six hits and two runs. He struck out four and picked up the win, moving his record back to even at 2-2.

UBC gave the ball to Tyler Gillies in Game 3 of their series. He went eight innings, scattering eight hit and three runs with five punch outs and two walks. Unfortunately for Gillies, UBC couldn’t muster a run, dropping the game 3-0. Gillies record is now 2-2 in 2017.

Patrick Van Den Brink made two appearances in UBC’s series and collected a save. He threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits with two strikeouts in Game 2, a 3-2 win. In Game 5 he picked up his second save of the year by throwing a clean inning to close things out.

Next up for the Thunderbirds is a four-game set with Corban. The T-Birds took 3-of-4 from them earlier in the year.

Desjardins dealt no decision
He pitched well enough to win but unfortunately for Brandon Desjardins (Calgary, Alta) of the Community College of Spokane, it wasn’t meant to be. He threw seven innings, giving up just six hits and a pair of runs with five strikeouts and a walk. However, the bullpen coughed up three runs in the 9th inning, giving Treasure Valley Community College a 5-4 win.

Landen of Lethbridge and Lane is no loser
Landen Bourassa (Lethbridge, Alta.) picked up the win for Lane Community College as they beat Southwest Oregon 3-1. Lane went six innings, gave up four hits and a run. He struck out two and did not issue a base on balls.

Baker batting .347
Brenden Baker (Red Deer, Alta.) had seven this past week for Siena Heights, but they went just 1-4. In those seven hits were three multi-hit games. Baker is hitting .347 with a .434 OBP and a .472 SLG in 25 games so far in 2017.

Pair of Ontarians pitch Niagara to two wins
The Niagara Purple Eagles gave the start in Games 2 and 3 to a pair of Canadians and they combined to surrender just a single run between them, helping NU to a series sweep of St. Peter’s. In Game 2 it was Daniel Procopio (Toronto, Ont.) who picked up the win in the 7-0 victory. He went six scoreless innings, giving up five hits with eight strikeouts. He is now 3-2 on the year.
Matthew Brash (Kingston, Ont.) followed in Game 3 and also picked up the win, moving his record to 4-0 on the campaign. He threw seven innings, also giving up five hits and a run with six strikeouts and two walks. The freshman owns a 2.86 ERA over 37 innings pitched.

Stubberfield makes four appearances
Owen Stubberfield (Georgetown, Ont.) was put to the test for Alabama A&M last week, appearing in four games for the Bulldogs. His first came in a 13-6 loss to Morehead State where he went a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk. He was sent right back out there against Morehead State again, this time throwing an inning, surrendering a hit, a run and a walk in a 12-2 loss. His next appearance came in Game 1 of their series with Jackson State. In the 6-3 loss, he threw a clean inning. In Game 3 he tossed a scoreless inning, giving up a hit, a walk and striking out one. Alabama A&M went 0-5 on the week and are 8-24 overall. Stubberfield has now appeared in 12 games.

Kelley wins rubber match for NKU
With their series with Youngstown State on the line, the University of Northern Kentucky Norse turned to Pat Kelley (Regina, Sask.). With each team taking a game apiece in the first two games of the series, Kelley tossed six innings, allowing seven hits, two runs (one earned) with three strikeouts and a walk in Game 3. The Norse took the game 6-3 and Kelley improved to 2-1.

Each week brings something new to the column as Canadians continue their college baseball seasons. They continue to show their importance with quality performances all around the diamond. Don’t be the one to miss out, check back next week to see what Week 11 has in store.

If you know of someone who is deserving of a mention in the weekly BMOC please contact Matt Betts at mattbetts41@gmail.com