Alumni Roundup: Week 11

April 30, 2024


As we close April, we’re heading into the home stretch of the collegiate season. Many schools are wrapping up classes which brings the main focus on the final few conference series and postseason play. The pro’s are now about a month into their season, and one specific Tier alum has been mashing as of late. Find out who stood out in this week’s alumni roundup.

Alum of the Week

Vytas Valincius (Illinois) was an XBH machine last week. Among his handful of knocks, Valincius hit four home runs and a double. He also drove in 13 runs between a midweek game against Western Illinois and a series at Maryland.


Valincius is in his first season with the Fighting Illini. He had a pair of stops at South Carolina and John A. Logan, and now the Lockport, Ill.-native has found a home and is a mainstay in the middle of the Illinois lineup.

Notable Performances


Lucas Spence (SIUE) continues to make a major impact in his first season as a Cougar. He’s now hitting .409 on the season. Last week, he tallied eight hits in a 2-1-1 week for SIU-Edwardsville. He knocked in a trio of runs and walked four times. The productivity didn’t stop there. Spence also threw a total of three innings between two games against Bradley and Little Rock. Spence allowed just three hits and struck out four.

Jackson Kent (Arizona) helped the Cats to a Friday night win at UW. Kent threw six innings of seven-hit ball. He struck out four and allowed just one free pass via HBP. Kent didn’t earn the win in the scorebook but his outing was instrumental in a 3-2 final.


Like Kent, Hunter Mink (USF) has been stellar on Friday nights for his squad. The Bulls dropped their opener against FAU, but Mink stood out yet again with a six-inning, two-run outing. He struck out a career-high 11 hitters, beating his previous career-high of 10 that he set just a week earlier. The Bulls take an 8-10 AAC record into a big matchup against the frontrunner East Carolina this upcoming weekend.


Blake Wright (Clemson) added a double and triple to his extra-base hit total this week. Wright knocked in four runs this week, too, but the Tigers had a couple of hiccups at Georgia and at Louisville. A 2-2 week brought Clemson’s record to 34-9, 15-6 in the ACC. Still, they take a No. 4 ranking into the month of May.

Jaylon Nauden (UAPB), a former alum of the week, notched five hits over the past week. He had a hit in a midweek against Arkansas and four against Alcorn State. He drove in four runs at Alcorn State, and despite winning the opener, the team would drop the series.

Brendan Stressler (SLU) hit two doubles in a win at George Washington. On the season, Stressler is slugging .310 with an OB% of .378 in limited opportunities.

Noah Edders (Bradley) earned the win in a contest at Belmont by throwing eight strong on Saturday. He allowed three runs on five hits but struck out 10 en route to a 4-3 Braves victory. 



John Abraham (Florida State) threw in a midweek against North Florida and in the weekend series against a highly-ranked Duke team. Against UNF, Abraham pitched three clean frames and struck out four. At Duke, Abraham threw 0.2 of an inning and earned a save.


Ryan Thiesse (Fordham) had his nine game hit streak come to a close over the weekend but still put together a solid week overall. He accumulated four hits between multiple contests between FDU and Rhode Island. He’s hitting .325 on the season and looks to close out his senior year on a high note with a few more A10 series yet to play.

Pro Alums


Bobby Seymour (Montgomery Biscuits, Tampa Bay Rays Double-A Affiliate) has been swinging it as of late. On Sunday, Seymour belted a two-run homer to give the Biscuits the lead at the time. They would eventually drop a tightly contested matchup. This season, he’s hit two homers and knocked in 12. He’s hit three doubles as part of his 20 total hits about a month into the season.

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