WACO, Texas – Jonathan Pagan of Texas College and Cody Via of Northwood University (Texas) earned a share of the Red River Athletic Conference Baseball Player of the Week award for the dates of Feb. 25-March 2. Northwood’s Alberto Gutierrez and Zach Wallis of Bacone College (Okla.) were selected as the RRAC Baseball Co-Pitchers of the Week.

Pagan, a sophomore first baseman/third baseman from Vega Alta, P.R., connected for 11 hits as the Steers went 3-3 last week. He drove in nine runs and scored four times while posting a .524 batting average in the six games. In a double-header against Jarvis Christian College (Texas) to start the hot streak, Pagan was 5-for-8 at the plate with a home run and four RBIs. He also went 3-for-4 and batted in three runs in a 10-0 win over Paul Quinn College (Texas). Texas College improved to 3-17 on the season.

Via, a senior leftfielder from Maypearl, Texas, stood out in the Knights’ only games of the week, a double-header against Wiley College (Texas). He was 3-for-6 at the plate in the two-game set with five runs scored, two home runs and five RBIs. Via also collected a double and a walk as Northwood moved to 4-9 overall.

Gutierrez, a junior pitcher from Fort Worth, Texas, tossed the fourth no-hitter in school history en route to an 11-1 victory over Wiley. He allowed one earned run on two walks while striking out six Wildcat hitters in a complete game, seven-inning effort.

Wallis, a senior lefty from Enid, Okla., hurled a one-hitter for the second week in a row with a 7-2 win over Graceland University (Iowa). He surrendered only two unearned runs and five walks with seven strikeouts in seven innings of work. Wallis had a no-hitter going for 6 2/3 innings before allowing a single.

Butch Ballez from Texas Wesleyan University, Jayce Rasberry of Southwestern Assemblies of God University (Texas) and Joel Torres of Bacone College (Okla.) were additional player of the week nominees. TC’s Matt Sockwell and TWU’s Aaron Wimpee were nominated for this week’s pitcher award.

-RRAC-