by Matt Plante
Vice President

Week #14: NCAA Division I College Baseball, Top Tier Alumni Roundup
This week saw Kellen Sarver absolutely rake for the Fighting Illini vs. Penn State. Sarver went 6 for 12, hitting .500 with 3 homers, 2 doubles and collected 7 RBI's. Ryan Howe for Purdue went off this weekend going 6 for 9, hitting .667 with 2 RBI's as they took 3 of 4 from Minnesota. Kevin Davis for USC-Upstate collected his 10th and 11th save this past weekend as the Spartans swept UNC-Asheville. Bobby Seymour for Wake Forest finishes his senior year with a bang as he went 7 for 15, hitting .467 with 3 more homers and 4 RBI's as they swept Pittsburgh. Here are the rest of the highlights from Week 14 from all of our Top Tier alums:

Division I Player of the Week:

Kellen Sarver, 1B, Illinois
Sarver was absolutely raking this past weekend for Illinois as he went 6 for 12, hitting .500 with 3 homers, 2 doubles and 7 RBI's vs. Penn State. Sarver earned Big Ten Player of the Week for his efforts that helped the Fighting Illini take 2 of 3 from Penn State and improve them to 21-20 overall.

The Best of the Rest for Week #14:

Kevin Davis, RHP, USC-Upstate
Davis continues his dominance on the mound as a reliever for the Spartans as he earned his 10th and 11th save this past weekend vs. UNC-Asheville. In the two saves, Davis threw a total of 1.1 innings giving up 0 runs off 0 hits and 1 walk while striking out 3. USC-Upstate swept UNC-Asheville and improved to 37-14 overall and 28-12 in the Big South. Davis is 1-1 with 11 saves in 21 appearances this year, and owns a 1.73 ERA in 26 innings of work with 39 big strikeouts. Davis made Big South 1st Team honors after the amazing year he had on the mound in relief for the Spartans. USC-Upstate will take on Gardner-Webb in the 1st round of the Big South Conference Tournament this week.

Bobby Seymour, 1B, Wake Forest
Seymour ended his senior year with a bang! Seymour went 7 for 15, hitting .467 this past week with 3 more homers and 4 RBI's. Wake Forest ended up losing to Coastal Carolina in the midweek game but swept Pittsburgh to finish the year 20-27 overall and 10-22 in the ACC. Seymour finished the season leading the team in almost every offensive category as he hit .302 with 10 doubles, 21 homers, 55 RBI's and a slugging % of .709. Big Bobby ended up tied for 2nd in the D1 home run race only one behind Florida State's bomber, Nelson. Seymour ends his career tied for 21st for the most hits in Wake Forest's history (223) and 6th most career RBI's (190). Big Bobby finished this season with a career-high 21 home runs, which is tied for the 2nd most by a Demon Deacon in a single season and this year to add to all his accolades he earned 3rd Team All-ACC team honors.

Ryan Howe, INF, Purdue
Howe had one of his best offensive weekends as a Boilermaker as he went 6 for 9, hitting .667 with 2 RBI's vs. Minnesota, to help Purdue take 3 of 4 from them and improve to 14-25 overall.

Andrew Hoffmann, RHP, Illinois
Hoffmann had another great start on Friday night for the Fighting Illini as he earned another win tossing 7 innings of shutout baseball off only 4 hits and 1 walk while striking out 5 vs. Penn State. Illinois took 2 of 3 from Penn State and are now 21-20 overall on the year.

Jordan Libman, OF, Illinois State
Libman had another huge weekend for the Redbirds as he went 5 for 12, hitting .417 with a double and an RBI. ISU lost 2 of 3 to Bradley and are now 22-32 overall and 12-15 in the MVC. Illinois State will take on Evansville in the 1st round of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament this week. Libman made the All-MVC second team honors in his senior season for the Redbirds.

Cam Redding, C/1B, Saint Louis
Redding went 7 for 14, hitting .500 this past weekend with a homer, a triple, a double and collected 6 RBI's. Saint Louis however lost 3 of 4 to Davidson and finished the year 17-31 overall. Redding finished the year as SLU's top hitter in almost every category, he finished with a .322 average, 14 doubles, 3 triples, 6 homers and 47 RBI's.

Dawson Place, RHP, High Point
Place threw in relief in the series finale vs. Campbell this past weekend, where he went 3 scoreless innings giving up 0 hits and 0 walks while striking out 2. High Point got swept by Campbell and finished the year 14-32 overall. Place finished the year 1-5 in 15 appearances with a 6.92 ERA in 39 innings of work with 35 strikeouts.

Keaton Rice, C, Bradley
Rice had one of his best weekends at the plate as he collected a hit in every game, going 4 for 11, hitting .364 with 2 homers and 3 RBI's for the the Braves. Bradley beat ISU 2 of 3 this weekend to improve to 20-20 overall and 12-10 in the MVC. Bradley will take on Southern Illinois in the 1st round of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament this week.

Konnor Ash, RHP, Missouri
Ash made three relief appearances this past weekend vs. Kansas and Auburn. In total Ash threw a combined 2.2 innings giving up 0 runs off only one hit and 2 walks while striking out 3. Missouri however lost to Kansas in the midweek and lost 2 of 3 to Auburn over the weekend to finish the year 15-36 overall and 8-22 in the SEC. Ash finished his senior season 1-3 in 14 appearances with a 6.28 ERA in 28.2 innings of work with 32 strikeouts.

Hank Christie, RHP, Northwestern
Christie got a start vs. Iowa this past weekend where he threw really well, going 5 innings giving up 0 earned runs off only 3 hits and 4 walks while striking out 5. The Wildcats took 2 of 3 from Iowa and are 14-19 overall.

Brandon Williams, RHP, Presbyterian
Williams got a start vs. Winthrop this past weekend as he went 6 innings strong giving up only 1 earned run off 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 3. The Blue Hose won 2 of 3 vs. Winthrop to finish 19-21 overall and 18-16 in the Big South. Presbyterian will take on Campbell in the 1st round of the Big South Conference Tournament this week.

Cam Minacci, RHP, Wake Forest
Minacci had another good week out of the pen to finish off his freshman campaign, where he made two appearances throwing a total of 4 innings giving up only 1 run off 1 hit and 5 walks while striking out 5. Wake Forest swept Pittsburgh and finished the year 20-27 overall and Minacci finished the year 1-1 with 2 saves and an ERA of 5.13 in 26.1 innings with 31 strikeouts.

Nick Laxner, RHP, Eastern Illinois
Laxner got a start in the midweek and got the win vs. SIUE where he went 4 strong innings giving up 1 run off 3 hits and 0 walks while striking out 2. Then he threw in relief vs. Jacksonville State going 3 innings giving up 0 runs off 2 hits and 0 walks. The Panthers beat SIUE and lost 2 of 3 vs. Jacksonville State to finish the year 25-23 overall and 14-16 in the OVC. Laxner finished the year 3-1 with a 3.66 ERA in 32 innings of work with 14 strikeouts.

Austin Ehren, OF, Belmont
Ehren went 5 for 16, hitting .313 this past weekend as he started in every game. Belmont lost to 4th ranked Tennessee in the midweek game and won 2 of 3 vs. Morehead State over the weekend to finish 22-30 overall and 14-16 in the OVC. As a freshman, Ehren hit .279 with 5 RBI's in 68 at bats this year.

Andrew Wilhite, OF, Minnesota
Wilhite went 4 for 10, hitting .400 this past weekend vs. Purdue with a homer and an RBI. Minnesota lost 3 of 4 to Purdue and are 5-29 overall.

Stephen Hill, 3B, Morehead State
Hill went 3 for 10, hitting .300 this past weekend with a double and an RBI vs. Belmont. Morehead State lost 2 of 3 to Belmont and finished the year 24-21 overall and 13-11 in the OVC. Morehead State will play Murray State in the 1st round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament this week.

Robby McGaha, OF, USC-Upstate
McGaha collected 3 hits this past weekend with 3 RBI's as USC-Upstate swept UNC-Asheville and finished the year 37-14 overall. McGaha finished the year hitting .278 and the Spartans will take on Gardner-Webb in the 1st round of the Big South Conference Tournament this week.

Dakota Kotowski, OF, Missouri State
Kotowski collected 3 hits this past weekend with a homer, two doubles and 3 RBI's as the Bears swept Valpo. Missouri State finished the year 21-22 overall and 11-13 in the MVC. Missouri State takes on Valpo in the 1st round of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament this week.

Mason Miller, LHP, Florida Gulf Coast
Miller made one relief appearance in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament vs. Jacksonville where he threw 3 innings giving up 2 earned runs off 2 hits and 3 walks while striking out 1. Florida Gulf Coast got ousted by Jacksonville and finished the year 28-20 overall and Miller finished the year 2-3 in 12 appearances with a 7.77 ERA in 22 innings with 17 strikeouts.

Jacob Nagel, RHP, Bellarmine
Nagel took the loss in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament vs. the #1 seed Liberty as he went 5.2 innings giving up 3 earned runs off 9 hits and 0 walks while striking out 1. Bellarmine finished the year 13-36 overall in their 1st year in Division 1. Nagel finished his senior year 2-5 with 2 saves and an ERA of 6.62 in 69.1 innings of work with 46 strikeouts.

Grant Leader, RHP, Illinois
Leader made two relief appearances this past week. Leader went a really good 2.2 innings vs. Indiana in the midweek where he gave up 0 runs off 2 hits and 0 walks while striking out 6 as Illinois beat Indiana. Then on the weekend he got another relief appearance vs. Penn State and didn't show as well as but battled as he went 0.1 innings giving up 3 runs off 4 hits and 0 walks while striking out 1. Illinois took 2 of 3 from Penn State to improve to 21-20 overall.

Scott Youngbrandt, RHP, Saint Louis
Youngbrandt got the win in his start vs. Davidson this past weekend. He went 5.1 innings giving up 4 runs off 6 hits and 1 walk while striking out 7. This would be the only win for SLU over the weekend as they finished the year 17-31 overall. Youngbrandt finished the year 3-6 in 11 starts with an ERA of 7.28 in 50.2 innings of work with 40 strikeouts.

Chase Stanke, C, Minnesota
Stanke collected 2 hits this past weekend vs. Purdue with a homer and 2 RBI's. Minnesota lost 3 of 4 to Purdue and are now 5-29 overall on the year.

Marius Balandis, RHP, Saint Louis
Balandis made one relief appearance this past weekend vs. Davidson where he went 2 innings giving up 2 runs off 2 hits and 1 walk while striking out 2. SLU lost 3 of 4 to Davidson and finished the year 17-31 overall.