MAAC Baseball Weekly Honors Awarded to Panas, Rivera & Uliana
MAAC Sports
Player of the Week
Connor Panas, Canisius
Sr., 3B, 6-0, Toronto, Ontario/Etobicoke Collegiate
Connor Panas had an amazing stretch this past week, posting a .632 batting average, 12 hits and 12 RBI to lead the Griffs to four wins, including a three-game sweep of Marist. Panas recorded two or more hits in all but one game during the week, with four of his hits coming the way of the long ball. The senior first basemen was an integral part of the team’s sweep of the Red Foxes as he recorded a dramatic walk-off homerun in game one of the series, key RBI’s in game two, and notched a grand slam in game three that completed a seven-run comeback and gave Canisius its first lead of the game. Panas finished up the five game stretch with a 1.526 slugging percentage and a .682 on base percentage.
Pitcher of the Week
Mariano Rivera, Iona
Jr., RHP, 5-11, Harrison, N.Y./Iona Prep
Iona junior RHP Mariano Rivera allowed a hit to the first batter he faced in the first inning and then retired 21 straight batters in a complete-game shut out at Central Connecticut Saturday afternoon. Rivera was dominant, striking out seven batters and walking none while using 91 pitches to earn his second shutout of the season. It was arguably his most impressive outing of a season that has seen him allow two or less hits in five of his last seven starts. His 90 strikeouts are tied for the third highest single-season total with Iona College Goal Club Hall of Famer Steve Broege in 1971. John Novinsky’s 92 strikeouts in 2000 and Sean Kramer’s 108 in 2004 and are the two remaining ahead of Rivera.
Rookie of the Week
Brian Uliana, Rider
Fr., OF, 6-0, Bethlahem, Pa./Freedom
The freshman outfielder batted .545 in this weekend’s MAAC series at Manhattan with 6 hits in 3 games, with 4 runs batted in. Uliana had a bunt single and a home run in the same game, while his pinch-hit RBI double tied the score at 1-1 in the 9th inning. He was able to follow that up with a RBI double in the 10th inning to give Rider a 6-1 lead in the 7-1 victory. Uliana batted .500 for the week, collecting 8 hits in four games. Prior to this weeks games, the freshman was just 2 of 9 for the season and is now batting .400.
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