Rodrigues, McCarthy & Santisteban Win MAAC Baseball Awards
MAAC Sports
MAAC Player of the Week
THOMAS RODRIGUES, NIAGARA
Jr., SS, 6-0, 170, Pierrfonds, QC/John Rennie
Rodrigues led the Purple Eagles offensively to a series-win over Saint Peter’s. With NU trailing by one heading into the seventh inning of game one, Rodrigues led off the inning with a single to left and would later score the run that tied the game at 4-4. It was the first of three runs scored that gave NU the lead they never gave back as they came away with a 6-5 win. He went 3-for-4 at the dish in the second game with an RBI in the sixth with a double to left field.
It all culminated in the third game of the series when Rodrigues went 3-for-5 at the plate with a pair of RBI singles in Niagara’s 15-11 victory. He also added two runs in the winning effort.
Rodrigues finished the week batting .667 (10-for-15) with four RBIs, a walk, and two stolen bases.
MAAC Pitcher Player of the Week
KEVIN McCARTHY, MARIST
Jr., RHP, 6-3, 200, Malverne, N.Y./Kellenberg
McCarthy saved both ends of Marist's doubleheader sweep of Fairfield on Saturday. He went two innings in the first game, and 1.1 innings in game two. McCarthy faced a total of 11 batters on the day, and retired 10 of them. In 3.1 innings, he allowed just one hit, zero runs and zero walks while recording five strikeouts. He entered the first game with the tying run at the plate, and the second game with the tying run at second and go-ahead run at first.
MAAC Rookie of the Week
CHRISTIAN SANTISTEBAN, MANHATTAN
Fr., INF/OF, 6-2, 205, Miami, Fl./Gulliver Prep
Freshman Christian Santisteban was the main offensive producer for Manhattan in their four games this week. He was instrumental in the Jaspers' 9-5 win over 2012 College World Series participant Stony Brook. Santisteban went 6-13 (.462) at the plate over the course of four games, including one double and two homeruns. He also drove in five runs and walked four times to bring his on-base percentage to .588. On Wednesday, he went 3-for-4, scoring three runs. His big hit came in the fifth inning when his three-run homerun put Manhattan ahead, 6-5, after they trailed 5-0 through three innings. The rookie then went 3-9 at the plate in a weekend set with Rider, including a two run shot. He currently leads the team in all major hitting categories batting .297 with five homers and 15 runs batted in.