Kroenke Earns Big 12 Honor

DALLAS?Baylor junior 3B Michael Griffin of Dallas, Oklahoma junior 1B Ole Sheldon of Roseburg, Ore., and Nebraska sophomore pitcher Zach Kroenke of Omaha, Neb., have been chosen as Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Baseball Players of the Week and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, in voting by a select panel of media covering Big 12 baseball for games played from Mar. 30-Apr. 5.

Kroenke fired a complete-game one-hitter against then-No. 30-nationally Kansas State in Manhattan, Kan., while striking out seven and walking two in going the route. He had a no-hitter going into the seventh inning before a single by Terry Blunt of KSU. Only one Wildcats’ base runner reached second against the soph lefty as he threw 108 pitches and faced one batter over the minimum 27. He tied for the best pitching performance by a NU hurler since a 1993 no-hitter and pitched the first full-nine shutout for the Huskers since Brian Duensing against Wake Forest on Mar. 1, 2003. Kroenke also kept a Big 12-record streak of 43 1/3 shutout innings going by the Nebraska pitching staff while improving to 5-0 overall with a 2.08 individual ERA.

Griffin batted .400 with three home runs and 12 RBI in four games as the Bears enjoyed a 3-1 week against TCU of Conference USA and Big 12 foe Missouri on the road. He was 8-for-20, scored six runs, belted three doubles, had a 1.000 slugging percentage with 20 total bases, and did not commit an error in 11 chances in the field. The junior infielder started his hitting binge with a two-run single in BU’s 11-0 win over the Horned Frogs and continued with a pair of homers and a double in the Bears’ 15-9 first win at Mizzou. He ended the BU-MU series with a game-winning grand slam to propel Baylor from a 6-4 deficit to 8-6 lead, which the team’s bullpen held.

Sheldon paced the 30th-ranked Sooners to a sweep of Kansas and 5-4 win over nationally-ranked Oral Roberts as OU advanced to 7-2 in Big 12 activity. He hit .500 (8-for-16) in a third consecutive week of .471 stickwork or higher while driving in three runs and stroking two doubles. His performance at the plate and first base helped Oklahoma sweep its second straight Big 12 series for the first time since 1997, and he was 7-for-12 (.538 average) in the three contests against the Jayhawks. Sheldon also added to his team lead with 13 multiple-hit games with two more last week and tallied the game-winning run in three of the four victories.

Big 12 Phillips 66 Players and Pitchers of the Week for the 2004 season include: Feb. 10-1B Josh Brady, Texas Tech; P Huston Street, Texas. Feb. 17-2B Seth Johnston, Texas; P Cory VanAllen, Baylor; P David Purcey, Oklahoma; P Zach Jackson, Texas A&M. Feb. 24-SS Cliff Pennington, Texas A&M; P Justin Moore, Texas A&M. Mar. 2-3B Austin Boggs, Texas A&M; P Daniel Rew, Oklahoma State; P Sam LeCure, Texas; Mar. 9-OF Michael Mask, Texas Tech; P Jim Ripley, Kansas State; P-J.P. Howell, Texas. Mar. 16-OF James Boone, Missouri; P J.P. Howell, Texas. Mar. 23-DH Josh Ford, Baylor; OF Madison Edwards, Texas Tech; P Mark McCormick, Baylor; Mar. 30-OF Steve Murphy, Kansas State; P Jarod McAuliff, Oklahoma; P Spencer Grogan, Oklahoma State. Apr. 6-3B Michael Griffin, Baylor; 1B Ole Sheldon, Oklahoma; P Zack Kroenke, Nebraska.

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