Rider’s Mihalik, Manhattan’s Cain, & Canisius’s Steffan Win MAAC Baseball Weekly Honors
Player of the Week
Riley Mihalik, Rider
Sr., Churchville, PA/Chestnut Hill Academy
Senior Riley Mihalik continued his dominant play for the Broncs last week in a three-game series with La Salle. Mihalik hit .538 with an impressive 1.077 slugging percentage to go along with a trio of multi-hit games. In total, Mihalik recorded seven hits, six RBIs, three runs scored. Two of hits were home runs. His best game of the week saw him go 2-for-5 with two homers and five RBIs in a 7-6 win over the Explorers.
Pitcher of the Week
John Cain, Manhattan
Gr., Middletown, NY/Pine Bush
Cain turned in another outstanding performance in moving to 2-0 on the year after collecting the win over Appalachian State in the series finale. The graduate student struck out eight while yielding just one unearned run over 6.2 dominating innings while scattering four hits and three walks. Cain has a 0.66 ERA with 16 strikeouts while limiting hitters to a paltry .136 average over 13.2 innings.
Rookie of the Week
Mike Steffan, Canisius
R-Fr., Williamsville, NY/Williamsville
Mike Steffan posted another great rookie performance over the weekend, as the redshirt-freshman had a .429 average while doubling twice and scoring four runs. Steffan started the series at Charlotte with a double that later allowed him to score the Griffs' first run of the opening game. He continued to break through at the plate in the second game of a doubleheader, going 2-for-4 with a run scored and a walk in the win. The first baseman ended the series even better, going 3-for-6 with a double. Monday's game also saw Steffan score two runs and drive in another while recording a stolen base.
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 38
th year of competition during the 2018-19 academic year. Current Conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.