STANDISH, Maine – The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) weekly accolades have been released and a pair of Saint Joseph's College baseball players have earned honors.
Senior pitcher Dan Meeken (Marshfield, Mass.) is the Pitcher of the Week and sophomore outfielder Scott Betts (Peabody, Mass.) is the Player of the Week. The weekly conference honor is a career-first for both players.
Meeken ran his scoreless inning streak to 19 frames with seven shutout innings in a 6-0 victory over Johnson & Wales University on Thursday. The senior southpaw scattered five hits with a pair of walks and struck out a career-high 10 batters in the shutout victory.
Betts was an offensive force in a 5-2 week for the Monks, as the sophomore outfielder posted a scorching .545 (12-22) batting average with three runs, a double, two home runs and 11 RBI over the seven contests. The second-year slugger opened the week by going 2-5 with two runs, a homer and four RBI against Bowdoin College on Monday and capped the difficult week with three hits, a home run and four RBI against nationally ranked University of Southern Maine on Sunday.
In seven starts on the mound so far this spring, Meeken is 3-2 with a 3.99 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 38.1 innings. The senior southpaw has allowed 35 hits and 14 walks and opponents are hitting just .243 (35-144) with six extra-base hits with him on the hill. Meeken has been particularly dominant in conference play, with a 3-0 record and a 0.90 ERA and 22 K's over 20 frames versus GNAC opponents, who have combined to hit just .127 (8-63) against him this season.
In the midst of a breakout season, Betts is currently hitting .373 (38-102) with 17 runs, eight doubles, three home runs and 28 RBI. The sophomore slugger is the conference-leader in RBI and ranks third in homers, fourth in batting average and sixth in slugging (.559) as of April 20th. He is the third SJC hitter to earn GNAC Player of the Week honors this spring. Senior catcher Joe Coyne (Duxbury, Mass.) and sophomore shortstop Max McCoomb (South Berwick, Maine) claimed the same award on April 6th and 13th, respectively.
Saint Joseph's (22-12, 12-2 GNAC) has earned the top seed in the GNAC Tournament, which begins later today with a single-elimination play-in round featuring the 3-6 seeds. The Monks begin postseason play Thursday, hosting the winner of the #4 Lasell College/#5 Rivier University play-in, at 4:00 PM.
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Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 474-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.