March 26, 2008
San Antonio – St. Mary’s University baseball players David Vaio and Braxton Watson were named Heartland Conference hitter and pitcher of the week, respectively, for their play last week against Angelo State University and Texas A&M International University, it was announced by the conference office on Wednesday.
Vaio (Jr., San Antonio) came back from an injury that had held him out for three weeks and helped lead the Rattlers to a sweep of Texas A&M-International. For the week he hit .353 with three doubles, a homerun, five RBI and five runs scored. In the first game of the series he went 2-of-4 with a double, homerun, two RBI and two runs scored. In the series finale he went 2-of-3 with a double, RBI and two runs scored. For the season he is third on the team in hitting with a .358 average, seven doubles, three homeruns, 14 RBI and 16 runs scored.
Watson (Jr., Spring) had his best game as a Rattler, tossing a complete-game four-hitter in the Rattlers 7-1 win over Texas A&M-International on Friday. Watson only let two base runners advance to third in the game and still had a shutout with two outs in the seventh inning. In the game he allowed one run on four hits and four walks, while striking out five. For the season he is now 5-2 overall with a 4.10 ERA and three complete games. He has thrown 41.2 innings, striking out 29.
The honors marked the sixth time this season that a Rattler has been named Heartland Conference Player of the Week. Jonathon Cisneros (So., San Antonio) and Jonathon Rosfeld (Fr., San Antonio) have been named Heartland Conference Hitter of the Week previously, while Scott Shimek (Jr., Shiner) and Tyler Cales (Jr., San Antonio) have been named Heartland Pitcher of the Week this season. The Rattlers won the hitter and pitcher of the week for the second straight week as well.
The 24th-ranked Rattlers are 21-7 overall, 18-4 in Heartland Conference play, just one-half game behind league-leader. The Rattlers will return to action Friday when they travel to Goodwell, Okla., to face Oklahoma Panhandle State University in a four-game Heartland Conference baseball series.