BASEBALL: At Colorado Springs, Colo., Utah sophomore C.J. Cron has been selected as the Mountain West Conference Player of the Week after helping the Utes to a pair of wins over UNLV this past weekend. It is Cron's first career weekly honor.
Cron hit .467 (7-of-15) in the three-game series with UNLV, finishing the weekend with four doubles, two home runs, six runs scored and 14 runs batted in. For the week, Cron posted a 1.133 slugging percentage and .529 on-base percentage. Defensively, he recorded 29 putouts and three assists with one error while pulling double duty at catcher and first base.
In game two of the series Cron hit a bases-loaded double in the third inning to send three runs across the plate and launched a grand slam home run in the sixth inning. In Sunday's victory, Cron's two-RBI double in the top of the ninth inning proved to be the game-winning hit as it provided the final 11-10 margin for the Utes.
Cron shares the weekly honor with New Mexico's Justin Howard.
Cron ranks second in the MWC with a .426 batting average. He leads the MWC in slugging percentage (.795), home runs (17) and runs batted in (70).
The Utes close out the regular season this weekend with a three-game series against New Mexico beginning Thursday, at 6 p.m. at Spring Mobile Ballpark.
TENNIS: At Skillman, N.J., Utah men's tennis player Phillip Eilers has been voted the ITA Mountain Region Senior Player of the Year, headlining three Utah tennis players to win regional awards. Joining Eilers were women's team members Paige Miles, the Mountain Region Rookie of the Year and Anastasia Putilina, the Mountain Region Player to Watch.
Eilers, already honored as the Mountain West Conference co-Player of the Year, finished his senior campaign with a 21-11 singles record, going 5-1 in league play. He earned his second consecutive All-MWC awards in both singles and doubles. During the fall season, Eilers teamed with freshman Alex Golding to win the Mountain Regional doubles championship and became the first Ute duo to compete in the ITA National Indoor Doubles Championships in more than 20 years.
Miles went 19-16 in singles play, including a 5-3 record in league play. She clinched three team victories with singles wins, including a 4-3 upset over No. 22 DePaul and a 5-2 victory against rival BYU. In doubles play with Putilina, she posted an 18-12 mark, going 6-2 in MWC matches, earning all-conference honors.
Putilina, who earned her first career national ranking in singles this year, earned All-MWC honors in singles and doubles for the second straight year. With an 11-8 record at the No. 1 singles spot, including a 6-2 record in league matches, Putilina recorded three wins over nationally-ranked opponents, including an upset victory over No. 37 Kristina Nedeltcheva of UNLV.